Sunday Night Poker
by Fes
Summary: COMPLETE. Naley. In a universe where Haley and Nathan feel nothing but hatred and annoyance toward each other, a poker game is played. Bets are made, games are played and lives are changed.
1. Chapter 1

Hey, everyone. I'm finally back with my new story. :) Hope you like it and enjoy it. Let me know what you think. :)

Sunday Night Poker

Chapter 1

"A poker night, Lucas?"

"Yeah, tonight at 8."

"Who's coming?"

"Me, Jake, Peyton, Brooke and cough Nathan cough."

"Did you say Nathan?"

"Yeah, well it's at his apartment."

"Luke-"

"Hales, I know you don't like the guy but please just come and have fun with us. It's been forever since we hung out."

"And whose fault is that? Every time I call you you're either making out with Brooke or playing ball with your asshole brother."

"I know I've been busy. That's why I wanna hang out with you tonight."

"I'd love to hang out with you too but a _poker_ night?"

"You make it sound like it's the worst idea ever."

"Gee, maybe because it is?"

"What are you talking about, Hales? You love poker."

"Yeah, Luke, I love poker. Just not when he's there."

"Don't you think it's time to forgive Nathan?"

"Why should I? Just because you forgave him for hazing you and treating you like shit, doesn't mean I have to."

"He never treated you badly. Why do you still hate him?"

"The guy's an asshole. And I don't like assholes."

"I think you're wrong but I know I can't change your mind. But please just come to the poker night."

"I don't know..."

"We would get to hang out."

"I just don't think it's a good idea. It's enough that I have to stand his presence at school."

"I promise you that if it's awful, we'll both leave and just hang out the two of us."

"Why don't we just do it anyways?"

"I already promised everyone that I'd be there."

"I really don't think I should come."

"You could win all of Nathan's money."

"8 o'clock at Nathan's?"

"8 o'clock at Nathan's."

Haley James hung up the phone with a smirk. Winning Nathan's money was motivation enough for her.

Ever since she could remember she had hated Nathan Scott. It used to be her and Lucas against him and his crew. The two groups used to just avoid each other and throw angry glares but it all changed when Lucas decided to join the basketball team during their junior year.

Nathan and his little posse did their best to get Lucas to quit the team. Nathan even went as far as trying to get Haley to tutor him so he could mess up with Lucas' head. Haley declined after Lucas convinced her that Nathan would eventually get tired of hazing him.

And Lucas was right.

Nathan finally left him alone. Somewhere during the season Nathan and Lucas came to an understanding when they realized their mutual hatred towards their father. They started to bond when Lucas helped Nathan emancipate from his parents and by the end of their junior year, they were not only team mates and friends. They were also brothers.

Lucas introduced Haley to Nathan's group and soon they all became one big group. Haley quickly befriended Peyton and Brooke and would've joined the cheerleading team with them had she not already promised to tutor.

Haley fit in the group like a glove. There was only one person she didn't get along with. Nathan Scott.

She never forgave Nathan for treating her best friend so poorly and Nathan never got over the fact that Haley refused to tutor him. It was a major blow on his ego since all his life he had always gotten what he wanted. Especially when it came to girls.

By the start of their senior year the sextet was inseparable. Even though Haley and Nathan couldn't stand each other, they both wanted to hang out with their friends, even if it meant they would have to see each other at school every day. On their free time they tried to avoid each other but usually ended up hanging out with the entire group.

Lucas, Brooke, Peyton and Jake found Haley and Nathan's bickering amusing. It hadn't taken them long to see that it was a love-hate relationship. They had even made bets on when those two would finally skip the fine line between hate and love.

Yes, even a blind person could see that behind the insults was something much stronger than hate. But it seemed that only Nathan and Haley were unaware of that.

So it was up to faith to make them find the right path.

"Where's your brother's better half a.k.a my best friend?"

"Nice to see you too, Peyton." Nathan said and held the door open for her and Jake. They were in Nathan's apartment waiting for the others to arrive so they could start their poker night.

"Luke's picking up Brooke and the bitch." Nathan said and went back to the couch to continue his game of NBA Live with Tim.

"Don't call her a bitch, Nathan." Peyton said.

"Whatever, she is." Nathan said and cheered when he made a basket.

"Just try to behave tonight, ok?" Peyton asked.

"Not gonna happen and you know it."

"So, tonight should be interesting." Brooke said grinning. They were in Lucas' truck on their way to pick up Haley from Karen's café where she worked.

"I hope they could just spend one night without fighting."

"Are you kidding?" Brooke asked. "Their fighting is the funniest thing! He's always mean to her and vice versa. The best thing is that both of their comebacks are getting better and better. It's like watching stand up comedy."

"What about when they try to make you choose a side?" Lucas challenged. Brooke's face fell.

"Yeah, you're right about that. It sucks when they try to ask our opinions and they just end up pulling us in the argument. It's much more fun to be audience instead a participant." She said smiling.

"I never know what to do when they fight. It's such an awkward situation. I mean, Nathan's my brother and brothers stick together, right?" Lucas said.

"But Haley's your best friend." Brooke said.

"And I'd beat anyone to death who tried to hurt her in any way or make her feel bad, you know."

"They should just hook up and get over with it." Brooke said.

"Eew, stop it. Nathan's my brother and Haley's like my sister." Lucas said disgusted.

"The only reason you don't want them to hook up is 'cause you bet your money on spring break." Brooke said referring to the bet on when Nathan and Haley would finally get together.

"And the only reason you want them to get together now is 'cause your money's on by the end of the basketball season. Which is in 2 weeks." He said smirking. Brooke rolled her eyes smiling and looked outside the window at the Karen's café sign. She saw Haley open the door and walk towards the car.

"Oh, here she comes. Shut up about the bet. You know she hates it when we tease her about it." Brooke whispered right before Haley opened the door and got on the back seat.

"Hello, people!" Haley said grinning.

"You're in a good mood." Brooke said while turning around on the seat to look at Haley who was grinning madly.

"Well spotted, B. Davis." She said. "I'm gonna win some serious cash tonight." Haley said excited.

"Hope you do." Lucas said smirking.

"I'm telling you, I'm so gonna win tonight." She said grinning. "I don't have to worry about homework since I did it at work,-" she said and pointed at the bag next to her that had her school books.

"-I brought my lucky ring-" she said and looked at the small golden ring on her finger.

"-and I've drank over 5 cups of coffee today." She said. Her face then turned into a scowl.

"And since that cheap little bitch doesn't own a coffee maker, I just made a fresh pot before leaving." She said hugging the warm thermos bottle like it was her most priced possession. She then took a huge sip from the top.

"Haley, you gotta stop drinking so much coffee." Lucas said. "It's bad for you."

"This amazing liquid is the only thing that can keep me for strangling that jackass long enough to win all of his money." She said.

"Ok, just remember that tomorrow's Monday which means school. So don't whine tomorrow morning when you haven't slept enough because of all the caffeine in your system." Lucas said.

"Not gonna happen and you know why? Cause by then I've already had my morning coffee and I'm wide awake and grinning because I've won all of he-who-shall-not-be-named's money." She said smiling.

"Nice plan. Hope it works." Brooke said.

They all stayed quiet for the rest of the drive to Nathan's all in their thoughts. Lucas was thinking about the upcoming basketball game while Brooke was thinking of everything she and Lucas had done just 15 minutes ago. Haley was thinking about all the different ways to say 'Nathan sucks' while wondering why Brooke was blushing so much.

"Here we go..." Lucas mumbled while parking the car. They all got out and walked towards apartment 11. Haley opened the door without knocking and walked inside.

"Oh, thank god you're both here!" Peyton said loudly and hugged Haley and Brooke. She then turned towards the couch where Tim, Nathan and Jake were yelling at the TV loudly while playing the basketball game.

"They've been doing that for the past hour!" she exclaimed and hugged them harder.

"Ok, ok. Take a deep breath, Peyt. We're here now. I promise there will be no more of that." Brooke said while talking slowly and coherently so she would hear every word.

"Good 'cause I swear to god I'll go crazy if I have to look at that for one more minute." Peyton said. Haley patted her on the head before turning to look at the guys.

"Alright, boys and jackass!" Haley announced and got an angry glare from Nathan. "Let's play some poker!" she said excited.

"Anxious to lose your money, ho?" Nathan asked while getting up.

"Oh, I could ask the same from you, loser." She said while taking her thermos bottle out of her bag and choosing a spot around the table. The rest followed her and took their spots.

"Everyone ready?" Haley asked excited.

"Let the games begin..." Peyton mumbled while dealing the cards.

"I see your 5 bucks and raise you another 5." Nathan said. Peyton, and Jake had already lost all their money and moved on to the couch to concentrate on each other's mouths.

"Fold." Lucas said and threw his cards on the table.

"Me too." Brooke said.

"Whatcha gonna do, Hale? You-"

"Don't call me Hale!" Haley snapped.

"-gonna fold, call, check or raise?" Nathan ignored her comment. He knew she hated when people called her 'Hale'.

"Check." Haley said while looking at her hole cards on her hands. Two jacks.

Tim, who had become the dealer since he lost his money, turned the fourth card, the turn, so there were 4 cards on the table. Haley looked at the 3, 5, queen and king on the table.

"Raising." Nathan said and put a bunch of chips in the center of the table. Haley looked at him suspiciously trying to figure out if he was bluffing or not. Haley smirked a little when she added the same amount to the center and nodded for Tim to reveal the final fifth card, the river. He did so.

Haley's eyes twinkled when she saw that it was a jack.

"Call."

"Call."

Nathan showed his cards, a pair of kings. Haley threw her cards on the table with a smirk.

"Three jacks and a queen high. Loser." She said while collecting her chips. Nathan glared at her and looked at the amount of chips he had which wasn't much. He knew he needed to do something fast to not lose all the remaining chips he had.

Nathan won a big pot on the next round with only a jack high. Haley had folded early and Lucas and Brooke didn't realize he was bluffing. Haley had looked at him furiously while swearing that she would never let him win the game.

Brooke and Lucas both lost all their money during the next few rounds so it was only Haley and Nathan left.

"And another win." Haley said proudly while collecting even more chips to her pile. "How much does it suck to lose to a girl?" Haley asked while looking at Nathan.

"Oh, it probably would. Too bad there is no more girls left to play." He said insulting her.

"_Are_, retard." Haley corrected.

"Go tutor someone, geek."

"Oh, I might be a geek. Unlike you who's about to fail math. So think about that when you can't graduate, dumbass."

"Oh, I'm not gonna fail. Trust me." He said smirking.

"And why's that?" Haley asked bored and uninterested.

"He banged Miss Roberts." Tim grinned while shuffling the cards. Haley looked at Nathan surprised.

"Really?"

"Yep." He said proudly.

"Man-whore." Haley said while arranging her chips.

"You say it like it's a bad thing." Nathan smirked while arranging his chips too. They both quickly counted their chips and realized they were pretty much even.

They played about 10 more minutes both winning and losing equally. Brooke and Lucas joined Jake and Peyton on the coach when they got bored of watching the game.

Haley had played that game for almost two hours now. Her coffee was long gone and she was more than anxious to beat Nathan but they were both playing too carefully. Haley decided that the moment she got a good hand, she would bet big.

Few hands later, Haley finally got was she was waiting for. With two kings as her hole cards and a third king on the table along with two queens, she decided on her strategy. She couldn't bet big right at the beginning because she didn't want to scare Nathan. She needed to play carefully, raising but not too much at a time so he would keep on calling.

After the turn and the river card, Haley was ready to make her big move. There were now 5 cards on the table. A king, two queens, an ace and a six. She had two kings on her hands which gave her a full house with 3 kings and 2 queens.

"Whatcha gonna do, James?" Nathan asked bored while playing with his chips. Haley looked at him wanting to savor his look when he heard her move.

"All in." She said and pushed all of her chips to the center of the table.

Nathan dropped the chips he was holding and looked at her with his mouth open in shock. Brooke, Lucas, Jake and Peyton all went quiet and stared at Haley.

"Wow." Tim just said.

Brooke, Peyton, Jake and Lucas gathered around the table to their original seats. Nathan and Haley both kept their cards upside down on the table and wouldn't show them to their friends in fear that their faces would reveal something to the other.

Nathan knew he couldn't back out now so he finally pushed his chips slowly to the center too. Haley let a small smirk.

For over a minute they both just stared at each without saying anything and ignoring their friends. Both were trying to get the slightest sign if the other was bluffing.

"Oh, this is so awesome!" Tim said breaking the silence. "This is so great!"

They all knew what he was talking about. It wasn't just about winning the money anymore. It was about beating the other for good. In a game where there was only Nathan and Haley left with both betting their all, it had to be something much more than just a poker game.

"You both realize that with the starting bets and the chips, there's 400 bucks in that pot." Lucas said making sure they were both aware of how much was at stake.

Neither Haley nor Nathan made any sound. Just a small nod without breaking eye contact with each other.

Nathan took a deep breath and was about to turn his hole cards over, when Tim put his hand on top of Nathan's to stop him.

"What? You're just gonna turn them around now?"

"That's usually what you do, Tim." Nathan said irritated breaking his eye contact with Haley.

"No, but this can't be it." he said disappointed.

"What are you talking about?" Haley finally asked looking at him.

"This can't be it! This is like the biggest game of all time. The biggest competition between you two."

"And?" Haley asked.

"You need to spice this up! Add something more to the bet."

"Like what?" Nathan said.

"Be creative! For example the loser has to run through the cafeteria naked or something as cool as that." Tim said grinning.

"Yeah, cause streaking is _so_ cool." She mumbled.

"So you're afraid of losing?" Nathan asked grinning.

"No, I just don't get any pleasure seeing you naked in my school's cafeteria."

"So, you pick something else." Tim said excited.

"More money?" Brooke suggested. Lucas glared at her for encouraging Tim.

"What? I think it could be fun." She said smiling.

"Boring. Besides, the winner already gets 400 bucks." Nathan said.

"You scared, Natalie?" Haley asked looking at Nathan.

"Natalie?" Nathan asked.

"Since you're acting like a girl, might as well call you one."

"Ooh, burn!" Tim said laughing while Nathan did his best to keep himself calm.

"So, how about that bet?" Haley asked.

"How about the loser has to carry the other's books for a week?" Lucas suggested changing the subject. If they were gonna do it, he might as well try to make the extra bet as painless as possible for both of them.

"Lame." Haley said.

"Why?" Lucas asked. He was desperately trying to get them to accept the easy choice where no one would get hurt. "You'd be the other's book slave for week. How cool is that?" he tried but ended up sounding pathetic.

"That's it! Slave! The loser has to be the other's slave at school for a week!" Tim said excited.

"No, no, no. I didn't mean that-" Lucas tried.

"Are you serious?" Haley asked from Tim. For being dumb, the guy had a good idea, for once.

"What are you, scared?" Nathan asked smirking.

"Dream on, Katie." Haley huffed annoyed while continuing calling him girl names.

"Then why not except it?" Nathan asked. "If you're so sure you're winning then wouldn't you like to see me carry your books for a week?" Nathan challenged her. Haley didn't answer anything at first.

"Chicken." Nathan said. That was it for Haley. No one called her chicken.

"How about two weeks?" she shot back.

"No, no, no! Don't be stupid-" Lucas tried again but Nathan and Haley ignored him again.

"How about not just school? How about a 24/7 slave?" Nathan challenged.

"For two weeks?" Haley asked and waited for Nathan's nod. "Deal." She said and offered her hand over the table. Nathan shook it with a small smirk.

Nathan took a golden chain that was hanging around his neck and put it in the center of the table on top of all the chips to represent his part in the bet. Haley took her small ring out of her pinky finger and set in on the center of the table too.

Lucas groaned out load and rubbed his forehead. It was too late now.

"This idea sucks, just for the record." Lucas announced.

"It was your idea." Haley said.

"No! It was so not my idea! Didn't you hear me try to stop you?" Lucas asked.

"No." Haley and Nathan said at the same time.

"So, what does this whole slave thing include?" Peyton asked.

"When he loses, he will be my chef, maid, chauffeur… That includes cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard work, shopping, driving, et cetera." Haley listed.

"So, just to make this clear for all." Jake started. "You're both agreeing that whoever loses will not only lose the money, but also agree to be the other's slave for the next two weeks?"

"Yep." Nathan said.

"Yes." Haley said and checked the clock. "It's now 10 pm. Starting from the moment we turn the cards, two weeks."

"Wait! What if the loser won't do it?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah, Jessica. When you lose and you decide to be a coward, what's gonna happen?" Haley taunted.

"I never go back on a bet. You saw me steal that school bus in junior year right?"

"Yeah, another proof of your idiocy."

"Maybe, but it's also a proof that I keep my promise." He said.

"Me too." Haley said.

"Alright! Let's do this then!" Tim said. "No backing down!"

"Let's do this! Haley, cards?" Tim asked. Haley grinned while turning around her two cards. Everyone ooh-ed when they saw her cards.

"Oh!" Tim yelled. "Full house with kings and queens!"

"Let's see yours." Haley said. Nathan looked at Haley's cards and slowly turned his own cards.

The whole room went silent when they saw his cards. It was something no one had expected, something that completely shocked everyone. Something no one had never even seen before, just heard rumors about.

"It can't be…" Brooke whispered.

"I didn't know those even existed…" Peyton said quietly.

"A royal flush." Haley whispered while looking at his cards devastated. He had a jack and a ten of hearts. Together with the queen, king and ace of hearts that were on the table, he had a royal flush.

Nathan had been watching Haley the entire time and seeing her face go from confident to devastated was something he would always remember.

Without a word Nathan pulled all the chips in front of him. He took his gold chain back but before putting it around his neck, he slipped Haley's ring so it was hanging from it.

Haley stared at the ring, her favourite ring that was now hanging around Nathan's neck. That's when she snapped out of her shock and realized what had just happened.

"Oh, this is so not happening!" Haley yelled breaking the silence. Nathan just sat back with a satisfied smirk.

"Oh, believe me it is. This is almost better than a hot morning shower." Nathan said. Everyone knew he loved nothing more than hot, long morning showers. He couldn't wake up without that, just like Haley couldn't wake up before her morning coffee.

"This is the dumbest thing ever!"

"Too bad, loser." He said smirking.

"Aargh!" she yelled and lunged towards him wanting to strangle the bastard. Lucas caught her before she could harm his brother.

"Haley-" Lucas tried but stopped when Haley turned around in his arms and glared at him.

"You! This is all your fault!" she yelled and started to swat him on the arm.

"What?" Lucas asked while trying to shield himself from Haley's attacks.

"You made me come here! You said it wouldn't be awful! You promised me I'd have fun! Does it _look_ like I'm having fun!" she yelled.

"Hales, please calm-"

"Oh, I will so not calm down." she said through gritted teeth. "And on top of it all, this whole slave thing was your idea."

"No, how many times do I have to say that! The book-slave was my idea but not this 24/7 slave. That was Tim!" he said desperately and pointed at Tim. Haley turned to glare at Tim who took a step back and went to stand closer to Nathan.

"Well, whoever's idea it was, you agreed to it." Nathan said while playing with the ring around his neck. Haley looked like she was ready to rip the chain off along with his whole throat.

"I hate to say this but he's got a point." Haley turned to glare at Peyton.

"I'm sorry, but he does! You know I was rooting for you." Peyton said. "But the thing is that you lost, Haley." Peyton wrapped one arm around her. "And you knew what could happen and now you just have to face the consequences." she ended.

Haley turned to look at the smirking Nathan. She swallowed and had to use all her energy to not attack him and slowly kill him.

"So, two weeks, huh?"

"Yep." he said the smirk never leaving his face.

"Fine, I'll do it." she finally said.

"Great." Nathan said. "You can call me Master Scott or sir from now on." he added. Lucas immediately took a hold of Haley, who tried to attack Nathan again.

Brooke suddenly started to laugh out loud.

"What's so funny?" Haley asked annoyed. Lucas was still holding her so she couldn't attack Nathan.

Brooke laughed a while longer and then turned to look at Nathan and Haley while wiping some tears away. What Brooke was about to say, made Tim laugh his ass off, Haley slump on the ground and Nathan's smirk disappear.

"You do realize that you're gonna be living together for the next two weeks?"

* * *

So, any thoughts? How was it:)

-Fes-


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, everyone! I'm finally back with an update. Thank you SO much for all the reviews. They keep me motivated to update. So, keep it up :) Anyways, on with the story. Hope you enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 2

"Lucas, I can't believe you're leaving me here. You're supposed to be my best friend." Haley whined. It was still Sunday night and Lucas had finally calmed Haley enough so they could leave. Jake, Peyton, Brooke and Tim had left long ago and it was only Lucas left.

"You'll be fine. Just go to bed, get a good night sleep and I'll see you in the morning." He said hugging Haley.

"Yeah..." she mumbled hugging him back.

"Alright, I gotta get home now. I'll see you tomorrow." He said. "Bye Nate!" he yelled to his brother who was busy going through his fridge for a snack.

"Bye." He yelled. "See ya at practise tomorrow."

"Ok. Good night, buddy." Lucas said before leaving.

Haley looked at the closed door and sighed. She turned to look at Nathan and stayed quiet for few minutes.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do." Haley finally started. Nathan turned to look at her curiously. "Since we both want these 2 weeks, to be as painless as possible, we won't talk to each other at all. You will write down on a piece of paper, if you're capable of that, what you want me to do. Laundry, vacuuming, dishes, whatever. But no talking!" she finished.

Nathan blinked once and then took a pen and a piece of paper and wrote something down. He threw the notepad towards Haley who caught it easily.

"Blow me." She read out loud. Haley threw the notepad as hard as she could towards Nathan who just laughed while dodging it easily.

"So, this is how it's gonna be, huh?" she said irritated. "Well, if you think I'm just gonna sit here and let you torture me, you're sadly mistaken."

"You're the one who lost." Nathan reminded her smirking.

"Oh, I will do my part of the deal, don't worry. Just remember: I'm not just your slave, I'm also your roommate. And when I say I can make your life a living hell, you better believe it." she said seriously.

"Bring it on." He said without blinking. "And while you do that, clean the kitchen. I'm going to bed." He added.

"Wait, where am I supposed to sleep?" she asked. Nathan turned to look at the couch.

"You're kidding, right." Haley said.

"Well, there's always my bed..."

"Excellent." She said.

"...but I'm gonna be sleeping there." Nathan finished with a smirk.

"The couch is perfect." Haley said and started to clean the kitchen.

"That's what I thought." Nathan said.

"I need a pillow and a blanket." Haley said.

"Don't have any extra." He said unapologetically.

"What? You're kidding."

"Nope." He said grinning. "Oh, and I expect breakfast to be ready by 7.30 tomorrow morning." He said.

He saw the furious look on Haley's face. "And in case you're thinking of smothering me with your non-existent pillow, I'm locking my bedroom door." He said before leaving.

"Smarter than I thought." Haley mumbled when he was gone.

She cleaned the kitchen as fast as she could. She then realized that she had no tooth brush, no pyjamas: nothing. Haley sighed angrily and went to lie on the couch. She used her arm as a pillow and her coat as a blanket.

Needless to say, Haley didn't sleep much that night. The more she was awake, the angrier she got. Around 3 am when she still hadn't fallen asleep, she swore revenge on Nathan. So she grabbed her cell phone, set the alarm for 6.30 which was one hour earlier than she normally woke up. With a cunning smile, she finally drifted to restless sleep.

* * *

Haley woke up to the sound of her alarm at 6.30 Monday morning. For the first wonderful seconds she didn't remember any of the previous day's events but when it all came back, she groaned. She then remembered her plan of revenge and got up from the couch with a grin. 

One hour later, Nathan woke up to the sound of his own alarm. When he heard the distant sound of a Lucas, he suddenly remembered everything that had happened the previous day.

"You ready with my breakfast?" Nathan asked when he got to the kitchen. "What's up, Luke."

"Nothing, just came to check you're both still alive." He said smiling.

Haley glared at Nathan who was dressed only in his boxers. While she noticed how well built he was, gorgeous even, what caught her attention more was the golden necklace around his neck and her golden ring hanging from it.

"Do you have to wear that all the time?" she asked annoyed.

"Boxers? I could go commando, but-"

"I meant the necklace, asshole." She said irritated.

"I know you did. And yes, I have to wear it 'cause I want to rub it in your face that I owe you. So, get used to it." he said and started to eat his breakfast.

"You don't owe me!" Haley snapped.

"Whatever, slave." He said his mouth full of food. He started to talk with Lucas about basketball while eating his breakfast.

After he was done he turned to look at Haley who was going through her school bag to make sure she had all of her books.

"Make me lunch while I'm showering. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. No crust." He said before heading towards the bathroom. Haley grinned while making the sandwich. Lucas turned to look at Haley.

"So, how's everything-"

"Shhh!" Haley said trying to listen what was going on in the bathroom. She heard Nathan open the bathroom door, close it, turn the shower on...

"3...2...1..." Haley counted down. And right on time, Nathan screamed.

"Oh Hales, what did you do?" Lucas asked.

Right then Nathan ran to the kitchen with only a towel wrapped around himself.

"There's no hot water!" he yelled.

"Too bad. I know how much you like your long, hot morning showers, Tiffany." she said smiling while making him his lunch.

"What the hell did you do!" Nathan yelled ignoring the fact that she was still calling him girl names.

"Nothing. Just took a shower."

"For how long!"

"50 minutes." She said innocently. She hadn't taken her eyes of the lunch she was making. Lucas groaned knowing that he would have to witness a huge fight.

"What!" he yelled. "Bitch!"

"You say it like it's a bad thing." She mimicked his voice using his words from the previous day when she had called him a manwhore. Haley finished making the lunch and put it in a zip-bag. She then turned to give Nathan a glare that could kill within seconds. _If only,_ she wondered.

"I want a fucking pillow and a blanket." She hissed.

"You're still pissed off about that?"

"Yeah!"

"You're such a princess!"

"Do _not_ call me a princess!"

"Whatever, _princess_. I told you, I don't have any extra pillows or blankets! And I ain't buying any. Especially for you!"

"Then it's goodbye to hot water." She said annoyed. "If I don't have a pillow and a blanket, I can't sleep. So when I don't sleep, I might as well shower that time, just to make sure there's no hot water left for you." Haley said angrily. She wasn't caving on this one. And Nathan sure as hell wasn't buying anything for her.

They were deadlocked. And it was up to Lucas to solve it.

"Nathan, why don't you drive Haley home after school. She can grab some clean clothes, school stuff and her own pillow and a blanket." Lucas suggested. Nathan and Haley looked at Lucas, then at each other.

"I'm fine with that." Haley said.

"Yeah, whatever. Ok." He mumbled.

"Good, crisis solved." Lucas said.

"I'll be right back." Nathan mumbled while going to get ready for school without his beloved morning shower.

"So, how are you really holding up, Hales?" Lucas asked.

"Fine..." she said in a bad mood. "I just hate cooking and cleaning and all that shit. I mean, I totally get the whole idea of it, just not as it applies to me." She whined.

"You'll be fine. And shouldn't you be used to cleaning your whole house when your parents are gone?"

"Yeah, you'd think so but it's just so different here. I mean, every piece of furniture just reminds me of him and instead of cleaning it, I just want to break it to pieces." Haley said making Lucas laugh.

"It can't be that bad. He's really a cool guy once you get to know him." Lucas defended his brother.

"You better defend me to him as much as you defend him to me."

"You can bet on it, buddy." Lucas said smiling. "I gotta pick up Brooke before school. See you there." He said and left saying goodbye to both of them.

Lucas was walking towards his car when a thought occurred. He knew how Haley drove and wondered if he should've reminded them about it. _Nah, she can't be crazy enough to drive._

"So, you probably want me to drive?" Haley asked when they were making their way towards Nathan's Mustang.

"Well, chauffeur was on the list..." he said handing her the keys. Haley accepted them with a devilish grin.

10 minutes later

"Scratch chauffeur off the list! You're never ever driving my car again!" Nathan yelled while getting out of the car and grabbing the keys from a smiling Haley.

"Oh, ok." She said grabbing her bag from the back seat and starting to walk towards the school. But Nathan wasn't done with the yelling. He took his back bag and ran next to her.

"I mean, Jesus Christ! You drove a one-way-street the wrong direction! And you drove 25 miles above the limit. You know, they have cameras and shit!" he yelled.

The satisfied grin on her face never left while she continued her fast walk towards the front doors of Tree Hill High. She opened them but didn't wait for Nathan to get in. After almost colliding with the doors, Nathan opened them annoyed and walked after her.

"Remember how I just said you're never driving my car again? Forget that, you're never even _touching_ my car again! God, were you _trying_ to get us killed!"

"Can't say the thought hasn't crossed my mind." She said and noticed Brooke, Jake, Lucas and Brooke by their lockers.

"Hey, you're both alive!" Peyton said and high-fived them both. Jake noticed the angry look on Nathan's face.

"What's wrong?"

"That bitch tried to kill me!"

"Don't call her that." Lucas said.

"Like I care." Haley huffed glaring at Nathan.

"What do mean she tried to kill you?" Brooke asked.

"Well, first she ran a stop sign then she almost hit a school bus-"

"Wait, wait, wait." Lucas cut him off and turned to look at Haley. "You _drove_?"

"Yeah." She said grinning.

"Haley, you hate driving." Lucas said. "You suck at driving."

"You're telling me this now!" Nathan asked furiously.

"Sorry, man. I never thought she'd actually drive. She hasn't done since she barely passed the driver's test. She doesn't even have her own car."

"Somehow I don't doubt that!" he said glaring at her. Haley just smiled as she opened her locker.

"So, you're getting some stuff from Haley's after school?" Lucas asked from Nathan wanting to change the subject.

"Yes, I value my hot showers." He said annoyed. "But I've got practise after school so you're just gonna have to wait." He said to Haley.

"Yeah, I've got tutoring anyways."

"Be at the gym by 5." He said and started to leave towards his class.

"Wait, you share math with us, right?" Brooke asked from Nathan.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"So, we're almost ready. Just wait few more minutes and we'll all walk together." She said.

"And walk with the she-devil?" he said glaring at Haley. "No thanks." He said and left.

"Bye, Jamie." Haley yelled laughing after him.

"What's with the girl names?" Jake asked.

"Just a habit." She said with a smile.

"You really should be nicer to him." Lucas said to Haley when Nathan was out of earshot.

"Like he is? Please, Luke." Haley said and turned to look at Brooke. "You ready, chica?"

"Few... more... seconds." She said applying lip gloss on her lips. "Ready! The wonderful world of math is only 5 doors away." She said and hooked her arm through Haley's .

"Bye, babe." Brooke yelled to Lucas before starting towards their class. Haley and Brooke took their seats from the back of the class, like always. Haley glared at Nathan who was sitting also in the back of the glass, just different side.

"So..." Brooke whispered while opening her book. "How are things with you and Nathan?" she asked grinning while stealing a glance towards a very annoyed looking Nathan.

"Were you _not_ just there? We hate each other. Besides, there is no 'me and Nathan'." Haley said. "He's doing his best to annoy me and I do my best to return the favor."

"You know, there's a fine line between love and-"

"Save it, Brooke. We have this same conversation every morning and every morning I tell you to drop it." she said. "The only thing Mandy and I agree on is the mutual hatred towards each other. I don't know why you keep thinking that we're gonna hook up. We're like day and night anyways."

"You know, opposites attract."

"And then they drive each other insane." Haley responded.

"Not true." Brooke said.

"Whatever." Haley said. "Hey, what's your this week's phrase?" Haley asked changing the subject.

"Oh, I've got a good one. You ready?" she asked. Haley nodded her head enthusiastically. It had become a ritual for them that every Monday Brooke would say a 'men are like' phrase to Haley and they would laugh together.

"Men are like parking spots. They're either taken or for the handicapped."

* * *

"I'm telling you, Tim. She's either the craziest or worst driver ever. Or both." Nathan said out-of-breath while running suicides next to Tim. It was almost 5 pm and they were almost done with practise. 

Even though he had been able to avoid talking to or looking at Haley during the 3 classes they shared, he had had a very bad day. Ever since missing his morning shower, Nathan had been in a pissy mood snapping at everyone about the smallest things. His Spanish teacher had assigned him extra work when he had noticed that Nathan hadn't done his homework for the past 2 months. Then after lunch he had gotten a stomach ache. He suspected Haley. _Bitch probably tried to poison me, _he had thought.

Then finally at practise Whitey got mad for his attitude and demanded them all to run suicides. For 20 minutes.

Haley made her way towards the gym when she got done with tutoring. She opened the doors to the gym and noticed the guys doing suicides while the girls were stretching.

"Haley!" Brooke yelled loudly and waved for her to go to her. Haley rolled her eyes smiling while making her way towards her.

"What's up, Hales?"

"Nothing. Just had the worst Monday ever." Haley sighed.

"What's wrong?" Peyton asked. Haley looked at her like she was crazy. "Well, besides the obvious." She said while looking at Nathan.

"Believe it or not, living with Nathan hasn't even been the worst part of my day yet." Haley started.

"What happened?" Brooke asked. "I know you were in a pissy mood in the morning."

"Yeah, 'cause I hadn't had my coffee. At math class I pissed off Miss Roberts."

"What did you do?" Peyton asked.

"Nothing."

"Haley?" Brooke lifted her perfectly plugged eyebrow.

"Fine so I corrected her a few times."

"Hales-"

"But only because she was teaching us the wrong stuff." Haley said and looked down before continuing in a quiet voice. "And I might've called her a 'sorry excuse of a teacher'." She mumbled.

"What! Hales, you can't say that."

"Why not! She sucks." Haley said.

"Yeah, just ask Nathan." Tim said grinning while walking by them.

"Aren't you supposed to be running suicides?" Haley snapped.

"Just got done. Nathan will be all yours in a minute." He said before leaving.

"Oh, the joy." Haley mumbled sarcastically.

"So, did you get detention?" Peyton asked.

"No, but the skank sent me to see Mr. Hauser who in turn sent me to see Patti Lawrence."

"The school shrink? How did that go?"

"Well, by the time she believed that I didn't have an attitude problem, alcoholic parents or an abusive boyfriend, it was already the end of my open hour. I mean, can't a person just have a bad day!" She said annoyed.

"I'm sorry your day sucked." Peyton said apologetically.

"Thanks but I'm not done yet." She said. "You know how I told you that I would get a new kid to tutor?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, it appears that my new tutee is the dumbest person alive. How he has managed to make it to his senior class is beyond my understanding." Haley said.

"Don't you like to tutor?" Brooke asked.

"Oh, I love tutoring. But where am I supposed to start when the kid has lower I.Q. than Forrest Gump?" Haley exclaimed.

"Who's the dumbass?" Brooke asked.

"Gregory Smith. Some asshole jock who needs to get his grades up."

"Yeah, I think I know him. He hangs with the basketball crowd." Brooke said laughing.

"Anyway, he actually asked me if you spell 'passion' with an H."

"You're kidding, right?" Brooke asked.

"And he also referred to Europe as 'one sweet ass country'."

"Oh god."

"I'm just glad that it's over for today. I'm so tired." Haley said and closed her eyes for second.

"Well, too bad 'cause you're doing some major cleaning today." A familiar voice said unapologetically behind them while kicking Haley on the shin to wake her up.

Haley opened her eyes annoyed and tried to kick him back but he was already walking towards his car. Haley groaned before walking slowly after him.

"So, you want me to drive?" Haley asked grinning to herself when they got to his car.

"Piss off." He muttered angrily while getting to the driver's side and turning the ignition on.

"Pillow and a blanket." Haley reminded him.

"So, where do you live?" he asked annoyed.

"Westover." She said and wanted to kill him for the face he gave when he heard where she lived. Haley gave him the address and sat in silence till they got to her house. Nathan didn't bother to get up from his car.

"You got 10 minut-" Nathan started but Haley had already slammed the car door shut. Nathan smirked while putting an Eminem CD on and listening to it.

15 minutes later Haley walked back to Nathan's car with a huge suitcase and a duffel bag.

"Jesus, how much shit can a person have?" Nathan said when Haley got in after putting the suitcase in the trunk.

"Well, considering your stuff and how you live in a one-bedroom-apartment, I'd say approxi-"

"Do _not_ finish that sentence."

* * *

So, any thoughts? Was it good? Bad? What would you change?

-Fes-


	3. Chapter 3

Hey, everyone! First of all: thank you ALL for the more than awesome reviews! You guys are the best! And second: hope you enjoy chapter 3. It's not as long as the previous chapters and upcoming ones but I hope you bare with me. Moving on with the story... :)

* * *

Chapter 3

"There better be a fucking blanket and a pillow there." Nathan said while watching Haley unpack her suitcase. They had just gotten to Nathan's apartment. Haley glared at him and pulled a blanket and a pillow from her duffel bag and set it on the couch.

"What the hell is that?" Nathan asked when he saw Haley take off something from her suitcase.

"My most priced possession." Haley said while hugging it. "My coffee maker." She said and went to set it on the kitchen counter and to plug it.

"You're crazy." Nathan said.

Haley's loving gaze turned into an angry scowl when she turned to look at Nathan.

"If you as much as scratch this beauty, I swear to god I will chop off your balls and feed them to you." Haley said while holding the black machine protectively in her arms.

"Only if you don't fuck up my morning showers." He said matching her glare.

"Fine, you can have your morning showers as long as I have my morning coffees." Haley said.

"Deal."

"Deal." Haley said and shook Nathan's hand.

_Maybe these two weeks won't be so bad after all._ Haley thought smiling a bit.

"Ok, I want you to vacuum, do the dishes and buy some groceries. Oh, while you're at it, scrub the toilet." Nathan said with a smug grin.

_Or then it will be exactly as bad as I thought._

"That's all?" Haley asked annoyed.

"For now." He said while flopping down on the couch on top of Haley's blanket. He took the controller and started to play NBA Live. Haley huffed angrily while looking at the huge pile of dishes and the dirty floors.

Four hours later Haley announced she was done.

"Now go buy some food." Nathan said without taking his eyes off the screen.

"I'm not paying." Haley said. Nathan paused the game and turned to look at her.

"Oh, yes you are. You're also living here." He said.

"And whose fault is that?" Haley asked annoyed. She would stay home if she could.

"Yours. You lost, remember." Nathan said smirking.

"Yeah, but I could just come here to clean and all. I could spend nights at home."

"But where would the fun be in that? Besides, what if I want you to do the dishes in the middle of the night and you're not here? How can I torture you if you're not here?" He asked while handing her a twenty-dollar-bill. "I want the receipt and the rest back."

"Whatever." She said.

"There's a Wal-Mart across the street." Nathan said while turning his attention back to the screen.

"Yeah, I know." She said before leaving.

Haley sighed angrily when she noticed it was raining. She cursed when she remembered she had forgotten to take an umbrella from her house. She thought about asking Nathan for one but quickly decided against.

She enjoyed being away from Nathan, even if it was a simple trip to the grocery store. She started to run across the street trying not to get too wet. She finally got to her destination soaked. She would've been more upset, if she hadn't realized something. A wide grin spread in her face.

Nathan hadn't told her what to buy.

With a wide grin, Haley took the cart and started to think all the possible things she could buy for herself with 20 dollars.

"Chocolate cookies, chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream... Anything non-chocolate-y?"

"That's not a word." Haley said. "But yes, there is." She said and showed the macaroni and cheese she had bought.

"Great. I'm living with a 5-year-old." He said. "So you bought two chocolate bars, chocolate milk, chocolate ice cream, chocolate cookies, 3 boxes of macaroni and half-a-pound-of-cheese." Nathan asked. Haley had been gone for over an hour and he was hungry.

"Yep."

"So let me get this right? You bought no pizza, no pop tarts, no Gatorade, no beer. What the hell am _I_ supposed to eat?" he asked angrily.

"Your feet?" Haley suggested innocently while eating a spoonful of her favorite ice cream. "Like I care, Susan." Haley said and glared at him before going back to her ice cream. Nathan sighed deeply to calm himself down. Haley knew exactly which buttons to push to get him agitated.

"Fine, be a whore. But I expect some macaroni and cheese in 30 minutes."

"Or we could just order something or get take out." Haley suggested.

"Or not." Nathan said with a smirk.

"What's wrong with take out?"

"I don't like it."

"Or you just want to torture me."

"Mac & cheese, bitch. Mac & cheese."

"Whatever." She said annoyed while starting to make dinner for her roommate and boss. Haley noticed that it was almost 10 pm and cursed Nathan because she hadn't had time to do her homework yet.

She took her books out and started to do some math calculations while making dinner. Haley turned to look at him and wondered when he did his homework. Had she actually cared, she would've asked.

"Dinner's served." Haley said sarcastically when she was done.

"Bring it here." He said from the couch. Haley rolled her eyes while taking his plate to him. Nathan took it without a word.

"You're welcome." Haley said annoyed and walked back to the kitchen to finish her dinner and homework.

They both sat in silence across the room for at least half an hour. Haley was doing her homework and Nathan was still playing. After few more minutes of silence, he got up and took the empty plate to the kitchen.

"Too much mac, not enough cheese." He stated. Haley said nothing determined to do her homework.

"Are you doing your homework?" Nathan asked.

"What does it look like?"

"Well, do mine too." Nathan said. Haley dropped the pencil she was holding and turned to look at him.

"You're kidding, right."

"No, I want you to do my homework."

"No."

"What? You can't say no!"

"Watch me, Jill." She said and turned back to her homework.

"The deal was-" Nathan started in an angry voice but got cut off by a bored Haley.

"The deal was cooking, cleaning, laundry, yard work, shopping and driving. No mention about homework."

"But I want you to do my homework!"

"I just said it wasn't on the list. And even if it were, I wouldn't do it. I'm a tutor, for god's sake. Doing someone else's homework for them is against everything I believe in." She said.

"Unbelievable." He muttered.

"You're just gonna have to do it yourself like normal people." Haley said getting back to her math book. Nathan huffed and went back to the couch. Haley rolled her eyes annoyed.

"Too good to do his own homework." Haley muttered angrily.

"What was that?" Nathan asked.

"You think you're too good to do your own goddamn homework, right." Haley said.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Nathan said through gritted teeth. He was still watching TV his back towards Haley.

"I've tutored assholes like you for the past 3 years. I know _exactly_ what I'm talking about."

"Oh, really." Nathan said turning around on the couch to face her interested.

"Yeah, _really_. You're all players and not just when it comes to sports. You're all cocky, arrogant but vulnerable inside." Haley counted. Nathan looked like he was about to burst out laughing when he heard her say 'vulnerable'. But Haley wasn't done.

"You all have an attitude problem and it kills you to lose to anyone."

"Oh, now you're describing yourself." Nathan said but Haley ignored him.

"You all think you're the shit and you can control everyone in your lives but the sad thing is that in the end it comes down to the fact that you're failing and you need my help."

"Oh, who's all high and mighty now? You think everyone needs you? Think again!" Nathan said getting up. Haley knew nothing about him and it pissed him off more than anything that she thought she did. He walked to the other side of the counter so he was opposite from Haley.

"The last thing I think is that everyone needs me! It's actually the opposite." She said her face falling. She recovered quickly though but Nathan didn't miss the sad face she wore for that second.

"You're just a tutor." He said hitting a nerve. Haley looked at him angrily. How dare he.

"Maybe. But being 'just a tutor' will take me to a good university, maybe even Stanford. I'll get a good education and a good job that will last a hell of a lot longer than your basketball scholarship."

"You don't know that!"

"What if you get hurt? Bust your knee like your dad? Get into a car accident like Luke? What the hell will you do then?" Haley paused for a second. "You don't have the grades to go to a university so you'll end up working in the dealership with the devil himself." Haley said with a glare. The look on Nathan's face told her she had hit a nerve. He closed his mouth and swallowed hard.

"I really don't care what _you _of all people think." He finally spat out. He couldn't let her get the last word.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're just a tutor, James." Nathan said. "You'll never be anything great. You'll always be remembered, if remembered at all, as Lucas Scott's best friend." Nathan saw Haley's face fall but he couldn't stop. He was still hearing Haley's voice inside his head telling him that he would be just like his dad. It was like the words were just coming out of his mouth.

"You said Stanford? Luke's applying to Duke, as you know. Stanford's over 3000 miles from Duke and Tree Hill. What are you gonna do then? You won't have Luke. You're in a school filled with nerds so you won't be the smartest anymore. What are _you_ gonna do then?" Haley listened to him without saying anything. She knew he was right as much as it pained her.

"You don't know anything about me." Haley whispered and blinked back the tears that were starting to form.

"And you don't know anything about me." Nathan said quietly while swallowing the lump in his throat. He turned around and went back to the couch so she wouldn't see how much her words had affected him.

Tuesday was spent mostly in silence. Other than the angry and hurt looks and the few comments, they did their best to avoid each other. Even though they lived under the same roof and shared three classes, avoiding was surprisingly easy. Nathan only spoke to her when he wanted something done, and Haley replied with a grunt. They were both still angry and hurt because of the other's comments on Monday night.

On Wednesday night Nathan had an away game and just to spite Haley, he demanded that she came there too. Since Haley didn't have her own car and Nathan would have rather cut off his own arm than let her drive his car, she had no choice but to drive with the team.

Whitey had no problem as long as she sat on the front, didn't disturb the players and would let them concentrate on the upcoming game. _"Besides, I owe you for tutoring these morons enough so they can play."_ He had said to her. He had also asked her to take some notes from the game, knowing the math nerd she was.

After the game was over, they headed back to the busses and started the 2-hour-drive back to Tree Hill.

Haley was sitting at the front of the bus writing down her notes and just finishing her final calculations and graphics. She looked at the finished paper with satisfaction and looked up to search for Whitey. She saw him sitting at the back of the bus.

She started to make her way towards Whitey trying to look nonchalant while half of the team stared at her. Apparently it wasn't normal to have anyone else on the bus besides the team and the staff. She saw Whitey sitting between the Scott brothers while drawing something on his white board.

"Miss James, can I help you?" Whitey asked when she was in front of them. Nathan and Lucas lifted their heads up from the board and stared at her, as did the rest of the bus. Haley looked around uncomfortably cursing herself for taking the bus with the team.

"Yeah, umh, sorry to disturb but I have the notes you asked for." She mumbled and quickly handed him a folder. Whitey started to go through the papers inside the folder.

"The first page is overall points, assists, rebounds, free throws etc. from all of the players. The next 3 pages are individual assessments and the last two are graphics comparing the two teams and also our defence and forward players and their abilities to adapt." She finished like it was the most normal thing. Whitey and everyone who had heard looked at her with their mouths open.

"And you did this all during the game?" Whitey asked.

"Well, I finished it just now but I got the rough drafts done during the game." She said.

"Where have you been for the past 50 years?" he asked in shock.

"Umh, not _born_?" she asked confused.

Whitey then turned to look at the Scott brothers with an angry glare.

"And why haven't you told me about her before? Next practise: suicides!"

"What!"

"Miss James, or 'God's Gift to the Basketball World' as I'm starting to call you from now on, would you like to be our manager for the rest of the season? We could use someone like you for the rest of the games."

"Do I get a P.E waiver?" she asked and he laughed. "No, I'm serious. I need a waiver. I'm seriously flunking P.E."

"Deal." Whitey said and offered his hand.

"Deal." She said shaking it.

"You're definitely gonna come in handy, miss James. I wish I would've gotten to know you your freshman year. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna get to know this little thing a bit better." He said holding the folder. "You sit here and get to know the team."

Haley sat down on the seat where Whitey had sat and turned to look at Nathan with a smug grin.

"'God's Gift to the Basketball World.' Now how about that... Has he ever said that about you, Sara?" she asked but then turned around to look at Lucas not bothering to wait for Nathan's answer.

"So, good game Luke. Loved the little twist thingy you did at the end." Nathan rolled his eyes annoyed and went to sit next to Tim while Haley stared at his leaving back with a small grin.

* * *

So, any thoughts? Yeah, I know it ended kinda oddly but originally this and chapter 4 was one big chapter but I decided to cut it in two pieces so the character developments wouldn't be too confusing. It's hard to explain really but I hope you still enjoyed it. I'll update soon. Don't forget to review:) 

-Fes-


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! I'm finally back with chapter 4. Espect some Naley-action. But only some. :) Anyways, let me take a moment to show my respects to all of you who reviewed. You. Guys. ROCK! Seriously! I love you all! I'll name my first born baby Reviewers". Sounds catchy, right? Then again first I'd have to get over my hatred of babies and actually make one but you know. Tomaeto, tomato. And forget that last bit and please just concentrate on the story. :D (I'm psychotic, I know).

* * *

Chapter 4 

Haley James was officially pissed.

She had had to cancel her tutoring session because she had just spent two hours on the phone. Now, while on her way to find the person responsible so she could beat him to death, she was feeling humiliated, angry and revengeful. With her high heels clicking, she made her way through the almost empty hallways of Tree Hill High. The few people who were still lingering by their lockers quickly deserted to the nearest empty class room without bothering to close their locker doors in fear of the wrath of Haley James.

She quickened her pace and looked out the window at the parking lot. His car was still there along with the rest of the basketball players' cars so she knew they weren't done with practise yet. She let out a load growl while yanking the gym doors open furiously. She stopped in her tracks when she discovered it empty. She slowly turned her head to look around the entire gym and noticed few cheerleaders here and there but no sign of the basketball players.

Or one player in particular who was about to suffer a long, horrible, painful death.

Her hawk-like eyes scanned the room and stopped at the boys' locker room doors. Haley let out an evil smile. He was trapped. With narrowed eyes she started her way through the basketball court her eyes never leaving the locker room doors.

"Hey, Hales-"

"Not now, Brooke." Haley snapped without stopping her pace or even looking at her.

Haley yanked the boys' locker room door open and slammed it shut behind her. She stopped when all the players turned to look at her. Some of them were in the middle of undressing, some were coming out of the showers, and some were naked like the day they were born staring at her in shock. Apparently it wasn't normal to have a girl there. Who would've known? Really.

"Scott!" Haley yelled furiously looking for him while ignoring the rest of the players.

"Yeah?" two answers came from the back of room.

Haley started her way towards the noise. Dodging a few point guards and a butt naked Tim Smith, she stopped in her tracks when she saw the two Scott brothers in the back of the room. Nathan was once again shirtless wearing only a pair of basketball shorts while getting something from his locker. Lucas was wearing a pair of jeans and in the process of putting his shirt on. When Lucas' head appeared from the shirt, he looked at her in shock.

"Haley?" Lucas asked confused. Nathan's head snapped towards the furious Haley. He had never seen her so mad and he actually wished he hadn't been so mean to her lately.

When she heard her name being mentioned, she started to walk fast towards them.

"Look, I don't know what I did but-" Nathan started in a panicked voice but didn't get to finish his sentence because of a load bang from a slammed locker door. But to Nathan's surprise it wasn't his locker door that Haley slammed shut furiously, but his brother's.

"What the hell did you do!" she yelled while shoving Lucas against the wall. Nathan looked at Lucas in pity.

"Hales, what are you-" Lucas asked in a confused, scared voice.

"Don't act innocent!"

"I haven't done anything." he said defensively.

"Did you talk to my sister!"

"Oh. That." Lucas said uncomfortably while taking a step to the side to get away from her. "I didn't call her, she called me."

"And you told her I'm living with him!" she asked pointing at Nathan.

"No!" Lucas said but then added in a quiet tone. "She guessed." he finished lamely. Even Nathan shook his head disappointed at his brother's lying abilities.

"Now, did she?" Haley said sarcastically. "Because Quinn called me after school and gave me a 2-hour-lecture about safe sex and living with boys. She's actually thinking of quitting her job and coming here to live with me." Haley said furiously.

"I'm sorry, it just slipped." Lucas said rubbing his hand where Haley had hit him.

"Do you have any idea what you have done!" she asked panicking. "Her relationship with my mom and dad are bad as it is but this is just making it worse! You know how she feels about their parental skills and methods and this is just pushing the limits!"

"How did your mom take it when you told her about Nathan?"

"Like expected. Told me to use pepper spray if necessary." she said with a smile even though she was still angry at him. Her smile then faded. "And she specifically told me not to say anything about this little living arrangement to Quinn because mom knew Quinn would flip out." Haley said.

"I'm sorry but she used those D.A skills to grill me. It was awful."

"Well, I can't wait for Quinn to call mom and diss her. Then she's gonna call me and tell me how bad parents mom and dad are. And then when I'm done with her, mom's gonna call me and cry and complain how awful Quinn is. And then I'm gonna call mom and tell her Quinn didn't mean it and then I'm gonna call Quinn and say she should relax. Do you see the pattern here?" Haley finished angrily.

"I'm so sorry. I know how Quinn gets when it comes to your mom."

"Yeah, next Christmas should be a blast." Haley said sarcastically.

"Look, buddy-" Lucas started.

"Don't 'buddy' me! How are you gonna make this up to me?" she asked getting right to the point.

"I'm gonna start by begging on my knees for your forgiveness."

"Good start. And?" Haley asked with a less angry voice.

"Then I'm gonna send your mom flowers, call her and apologise and let her know that you had no part in the whole fiasco."

"She'll appreciate that." She said in a normal voice. "But what else?"

"I'm gonna take you to a movie and dinner and pay for everything."

"Everything?" she asked.

"Every pop corn, sprite and M&M."

"Even Skittles?" she asked in a hopeful, quiet voice.

"Even Skittles." He said. Haley still looked a bit hesitated. Lucas grinned widely while thinking of the perfect way to make it up to her.

"And then I'm gonna play minigolf with you and we can a have an old school water balloon fight." Lucas said grinning. Nathan looked at him like he was crazy but Haley smiled.

"Can I fill some of mine with milk like we used to?"

"Of course."

"You just got yourself out of the 'Friendship Doghouse'." Haley said grinning while giving him a hug.

"Great." He said and was about to say something when a deep voice interrupted them.

"What the hell is going on in here!" The trio turned to look at a fuming Whitey.

"Nothing, coach. Just had to yell at Lucas about something." Haley said innocently. Surprisingly Whitey smiled a bit.

"Can I see you in my office, Ms. James?" Haley waved Lucas goodbye and followed Whitey in his office.

"So, I'm sorry about barging into the boys' locker room like this. Won't happen again." Haley said while taking a seat.

"I don't think the guys mind. And it's good that you can control the Scott brothers."

"Well, maybe Lucas but I don't know about Nathan." Haley said with a smile.

"You have more influence on him than you give yourself credit for." Whitey said smiling.

"Yeah, I guess. It's easy to piss him off." Haley said with a smile.

"Not just that, Haley. Not just that." He said cryptically. Haley thought about asking him what he meant by that but decided against it.

"So, may I ask why you just wanted to rip one of my best player's head off?" he asked. Haley smiled a bit at the choice of his words.

"It's a long story."

"Is everything alright?" he asked concerned.

"Not yet but they will be." She said with a small smile.

"Good. You know, your brothers played basketball for my team back in the days. And if I remember correctly, you sisters were part of the cheerleading squad."

"Yeah, that's right." Haley said.

"So, that makes you practically family. And you should know that if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here." Whitey said sincerely.

"Thanks, coach. I appreciate that. Brian and Chris both cared for you a lot and respected you."

"They are good kids." Whitey said. "Anything else on your mind?"

"Well actually now that we're here, I gotta ask you something." Haley said. "I'm pretty confused to why you wanted me to be the manager." Haley said.

"Why's that?"

"I can't play the sport even if my life depended on it and I have to spend most of the practises at the tutor center. It just seems that I'm not offering you enough for a P.E. waiver."

"The reason I asked you to become the manager was the fact that I know that if there's anyone who can give me scientific data about the game, it's you. So maybe you can't play the game, but you know _how_ to play the game. I don't need you on the court, Haley. I just need your head. You're very smart and you should give yourself credit for that." Whitey said.

"Thank you." Haley said.

"But you should know that there was also another reason I asked you." Whitey said.

"What's that?"

"Your connection to the Scott brothers. Lucas thinks the world of you and respects you. And even if you don't believe it, Nathan listens to you." Whitey said and paused for a second.

"Not to even mention how the rest of the team feels about you. You've tutored a lot of them so you already got their respect and gratitude. But in the end it comes down to your connection with the Scott brothers. Those two will determine if we win state or not. Sure, it's a team sport but we've seen how badly the whole team plays if one of them is having an off-day."

"So, you want me to keep them 'in the zone'? Keep their heads in the game? Make sure they don't have an 'off day'? _Babysit_ them?" Haley asked a bit upset.

"No, nothing like that. Just believe in them and the team." Whitey said and then added with a smirk. "And give me the facts from time to time."

"Sure thing, coach." Haley said relieved and got up. "The team is really lucky to have you as their coach."

"Just doing my job." Whitey said with a smile. "Now go take care of whatever is bothering you." He said. Haley nodded her head and left the office. She walked through the locker room while high fiving few players on the way. She walked outside to Nathan's car where he was waiting for her patiently.

"Finally." He muttered when she opened the door and sat down.

"Sorry." She said unapologetically.

"So what did you and Whitey talk about?"

"I don't think that's any of your business."

"Fine, be a bitch."

That same night, Haley made a 2-hour long distance call from Nathan's phone to Quinn and her mother to sort things out, much to Nathan's annoyance. Quinn had also demanded to speak with Nathan to make sure he knew who she was dealing with. Nathan reluctantly listened to her and then bitched at Haley for the rest of the night how crazy her sister was.

The rest of the day went _mostly_ the same way the previous ones had: Haley and Nathan ignoring each other but still trying to piss the other off.

But only mostly. Because on Thursday night something happened that changed everything.

"Home sweet home." Haley muttered sarcastically while walking inside the apartment with two bags of groceries.

Nathan was still lying on the couch in the same position as before Haley had left. She rolled her eyes annoyed and started to make dinner while doing her homework.

After finishing cooking, eating and making sure her homework was correct, she started to look around the apartment. It was spotless. She had done so much cleaning for the past days that she doubted that there was anything left to do. She looked at Nathan bored who was still lying on the couch watching TV, the dirty dishes on the table.

Haley knew she should've appreciated the moments of silence and peace between her and Nathan but she couldn't. She had grown accustomed to fighting with him and even though she would rather shoot herself in the leg than admit that she had actually started to enjoy living with Nathan.

Sure, he was a jerk and she worked her ass off but there was something soothing knowing that at least that part of her life was stable. She missed her brothers, sisters and parents, especially her mom. She had no idea what she was going to do with college, as Nathan had so sweetly pointed out few days ago, so the fact the she could count on hers and Nathan's relationship to be stable, gave her indescribable peace.

But of course, had she known what was about to happen in the next 10 minutes, she would have thought again.

Haley got up from her seat and went to the living room. She pulled Nathan's legs from the end of the couch and sat down.

"Nathan..." Haley whined bored when Nathan wouldn't change the channel from ESPN.

"What do you want?" he asked without taking his eyes off the basketball game that was on the screen.

"Is there something you want me to do here?"

"I don't care." He said uninterested.

"Then why am I here?" she asked. Nathan turned to look at her.

"You lost the bet."

"Yeah, but if you don't need anything I might as well go home." Haley tried.

"Don't think so." He said with a small smirk.

"But, what's the point of having me here if I don't do anything?" she asked.

"To torture you, my love." He said grinning. Haley threw her hands in the air frustrated and then crabbed the remote control from his hands. She turned the TV off and turned to smirk at him.

"Yeah, two can play that 'torture' game, _my love_." She said.

"Put the game back on." He said annoyed.

"Don't think so. Since I don't have anything to do and can't go home..." she said.

Nathan looked at her for a while and then his glare turned into a smirk.

"Fine, if you want something to do..."

"Well, I was more like thinking of going home but..."

"...then give me a lap dance." Nathan finished.

The remote fell from her hands.

"Excuse me?"

"Give me a lap dance."

"What!" Haley yelled while jumping up from the couch.

"A... Lap... Dance." He said slowly and motioned his lap with his hands while studying her face with a smirk. First Haley opened her mouth in shock, then narrowed her eyes in disgust and finally just glared at him.

"_What_?" she hissed and crossed her arms over her chest while standing in front of him.

"Yeah, I want a lap dance." Nathan said.

"Wasn't part of the deal." Haley said with a shaky voice. It took all of her strength to not attack him and scratch him to death right then. "Like I told you when you asked me to do your homework, it's not part of the deal. The deal was cooking, cleaning-"

"Oh, don't be such a nerd. The deal was that you're my slave and do what I tell you to do. And I'm telling you to give me a lap dance." Nathan said the smirk never leaving his face.

"You're serious, aren't you?" Haley finally asked.

"I never joke about lap dances." He said his grin widening when he saw Haley's cheeks redden in anger. She breathed deeply through her nose few times while keeping her mouth firmly shut in annoyance.

She then lifted her hands in the air, palms facing him while continuing to speak slowly in a shaky, angry voice.

"You see these hands? They're small, I know, but I swear to god they will choke the fuck out of you if you don't get serious."

Nathan raised his eye brow while smiling. It never seized to amaze him how different she was from all the other girls. She didn't give a crap about his basketball skills or athletic looks. He knew exactly what buttons to push to piss her off and vice versa. Nathan had grown to love the arguments between them so much that he would deliberately pick fights with her. Because the more they fought, the more it turned him on. Something he would never admit to her. Or himself for that matter.

"Why are you smiling?" she snapped when Nathan didn't say anything.

"Just picturing you on my lap." He said his eyes never leaving his. For a split second Haley imagined herself topless straddling him while pulling shirt off and kissing him fiercely.

Haley blinked her eyes and snapped out of her fantasy. _What the hell was that!_ She blushed deeply while trying to keep herself calm.

"You imagining the same thing?" Nathan asked smirking. Haley looked at him embarrassed that he had been able to read her so well. She tried to come up with something snappy but the shirtless images of Nathan were still dictating her mind.

"In your dreams." She said lamely.

"You can bet on it." he said and almost laughed out loud when he saw Haley blush even more.

Haley wanted the ground to open underneath her. Nathan had the total control of the situation and she would've done anything to reverse it. She thought about the most confident, the most in-control-of-the-situation person she knew.

_What would Brooke do? _

Suddenly Haley smirked and looked at Nathan with a small, cunning smile.

_What _wouldn't_ Brooke do?_

"Have you ever seen 'Cruel Intentions'?"

"What? No." he said. Haley's smirk never faded while she turned the stereos on. Ashanti's 'Only You', that she had listened to earlier, started to blast from the speakers.

"Perfect." She muttered and went to stand so close to Nathan that her legs were between his knees. He looked at her confused without realizing what she was about to do.

"What are you-" Nathan voice faded as soon as Haley started to move her hips slowly from side to side. He looked at her in shock and swallowed.

_Holy shit, she's going to do it. Breathe, Nathan, breathe. _

Haley kept moving to the beat of the music while never taking her eyes off of his. She kept thinking what Brooke had taught her. _Confidence, Haley, confidence is all you need._

"You don't have to... I didn't mean... I was just kidding..." All the words died in Nathan's throat when Haley started to turn around slowly until her back towards him.

Nathan couldn't stop staring at her tight jeans and her perfect ass shaking from side to side right in front of his face. It took all of his mind power not to grab her, pull her on the couch with him, rip the clothes off her back and have his way with her.

Nathan almost swallowed his tongue when Haley started to bend her knees until she was low enough to sit on his lap. Haley kept the movement on her hips, grinding her ass on him. Nathan's breathing started to come in shorter terms and Haley increased the pressure a bit with a smirk.

Nathan couldn't help himself anymore, he had to touch her. He put his hands under her shirt, on top of her stomach. The touch made Haley's confident smirk disappear. She could feel tingles all over her body. She took a shaky breath, closed her eyes and let her head fall back to rest on his shoulder. Nathan swallowed hard when Haley's head came in touch with his shoulder. Her neck seemed to be only inches from his face and he stared at it creamy skin incredulously while inhaling her scent.

They moved in trance to the beat of the music, Haley grinding her ass and Nathan's hands on her stomach and hips. Haley didn't know what had happened, but she had went from the most confident she-devil wannabe-stripper to a idealistic, romance thrilling high school girl who got lost in gorgeous guy's sweet touches and soulful eyes. Her eyes flew open and she realized that she was starting to enjoy Nathan's touches way too much. She blinked a few times to get control of the situation.

_Get a grip, Haley! Be a sexy vixen, not a shy school girl. The mission is to make him hot and bothered, not the other way around!_

She lifted herself off of Nathan's lap enough to turn around and straddle him. Nathan looked at her shocked but didn't hesitate to grab her hips and pull her closer to him. Haley wrapped her left arm tightly around his neck while rubbing herself on him. Her right hand was exploring every muscle in Nathan's shoulder and arm before moving down to his hard chest.

Nathan's head was exploding. She was not only grinding hard against him but her hands were making his head spin. They were traveling up and down his arms, shoulders and now they were massaging her chest.

Haley couldn't help but breathe deeper and faster when he felt his hard muscles under her hand. She moved them from his shoulders to his chest going up and down. His hands were exploring her body just as much. He had moved from her stomach and hips to the wonders of her ass and thighs. The moment his hands found her inner thigh, she let out a quiet moan. She was losing control again.

She tried to concentrate on exploring his muscles instead enjoying too much the way his hands made her feel. Luckily for her 'mission', she felt something on Nathan's chest through the fabric of his shirt that snapped her out of her wonderful daze. It was her ring hanging from his chain. She then realized that she was practically, or at least willing to, having sex with her worst enemy. She blinked twice and started to panic.

She needed to get away from the situation but more than that she needed to do it without embarrassing herself. She needed to be the one in control again. _Remember Brooke's words. Confidence... Be confident..._ Right on time, the song ended and there was silence.

Nathan was drowning in her touch and couldn't find his way back up to the surface. Not that he was planning on stopping. He didn't have a choice though when the song ended and there was silence. Right then Haley got up and looked down at his lap at the physical prove of just how much Nathan had enjoyed her grinding.

"Down boy."

Haley smirked at him while trying her best to not look embarrassed. She grabbed the control and turned the TV on ignoring that the stereos were still on. Nathan opened his mouth in shock, then looked down in embarrassment and finally at her in frustration.

"Are you kidding?"

"Nope." She said with a smile. She was back to being her usual, bitchy self. Or that's at least what she was telling herself over and over again.

"Don't even try to tell me you didn't enjoy it as much as I did. You were panting so hard at the end, I think the neighbours heard you." He said. For a split second, Haley blushed in embarrassment but quickly recovered from it.

"Oh, I did enjoy it." Haley said surprising Nathan.

"You think I'm hot!" Nathan said triumphantly.

"I never said you weren't." Haley said surprising Nathan even more. "But don't flatter yourself. It was nothing but lust."

"Well, if you ever start feeling 'lusty' again, you know where I sleep." He said smirking. Haley looked at Nathan who was still sitting at the other end of the couch. She gave him another sexy smirk before crawling up to him slowly. She straddled him again, ran her hand under his shirt over his hard muscles and breathed hot air on his neck. She then got up as fast as she had the previous time.

"Good to know." She said innocently.

"Tease!"

"Hey, you were the one that wanted a lap dance so blame yourself." she said.

"But- you- I- Go clean the goddamn toilet!" he said annoyed. Haley just laughed while walking towards the bathroom.

"It was still worth it!" she yelled grinning before walking in the bathroom.

* * *

So, how was it? I know writing 'sexual' scenes isn't my strength but as long as you get the point, I'm fine. :D Anyways, leave a review, please. :) 


	5. Chapter 5

Hey, everyone. I'm back with an update. Unfortunately, it's a short chapter, I apologize. The next one will be longer. Anyways, thank you for all the kind reviews, they mean the world to me. Keep them coming. :)

* * *

Chapter 5

It was finally Friday morning and unfortunately for both of them, Haley was in a crappy mood. A _very_ crappy mood.

Ever since their little lap dance incident from the previous day, things had been uncomfortable between them. Haley could not stop fantasizing Nathan's shirtless, sweaty body under hers and Nathan couldn't shake off the feeling of Haley grinding him and running her hands all over his body.

So to avoid the awkward moments, they had gone back to being snappy and sarcastic.

"How was your sleep, princess?" Nathan asked bored while coming to the kitchen to get something to drink while she was making their lunches ready. Haley cursed when she saw that he was yet again shirtless and she did her best to ignore the fact that he looked extremely hot and instead tried to concentrate on glaring at him because he got her golden ring hanging around his neck as always.

"I'm having my period and can therefore legally kill you. So shut the fuck up." Haley snapped. She had a sick feeling in her stomach and didn't need any crap from Nathan.

"Eew." Nathan said disgusted. "Don't say stuff like that to me." he said and started to pack his basketball stuff. "Did you wash my game uniform?"

"Yeah, your 'then-disgusting, now-clean' clothes are drying in the bathroom. You can probably get them by yourself or am I overestimating your I.Q. again?" she asked sarcastically.

"Jesus, what the hell did you have for breakfast? A bowl of bitch-cereal?"

"I haven't had my morning coffee yet, Molly. Don't make me kill you. Besides, I just washed the floors. I'd hate to get them all bloody this early in the morning." She said without looking up from the lunch she was making.

Nathan huffed and went to get his clothes. He came back few minutes later with something much more interesting than his game uniform.

"Well well well, looks like my 'disgusting' clothes weren't the only clothes you washed." He said. Haley's head whipped around to look at him holding her black bra and looking at them with much interest.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked annoyed but couldn't help the blush on her cheeks.

"Black. Victoria's Secret. Very Sexy Collection. Very hot." He said inspecting the black bra with much interest. "34 B. Knew you were bigger than A." He said and looked at her boobs.

"Give me those." Haley mumbled and grabbed the bra from his hands.

"Didn't know you were so- Ouch!" he yelled when Haley smacked him across the face with her bra.

"So what!" she asked while holding the bra up ready to smack him again.

"So _violent_! Jesus." He said rubbing his cheek annoyed but with a hint fear. Haley smiled smugly and went to hide her bra with the rest of her clothes before going back to finish his lunch.

"Peanut butter and jelly?" she asked already knowing his answer.

"Yeah."

"You're so predictable." She huffed.

"Just make the damn sandwich." Nathan said without turning around to look at her while packing his basketball stuff his back towards her. "Miss Black Lace." He added with a smirk and immediately ducked down to avoid the newspaper Haley threw towards him. It missed his head by inches.

Few hours later...

"I swear to god I just wanna kill him every time he opens his mouth." Haley said. She was walking with Lucas towards the cafeteria.

"He's not that bad."

"Not that bad? Not that bad! He was so mean to me on Monday! He basically said I could never be as good as he is!"

"That's not what he said." Lucas said. "But you're right, he shouldn't be mean to you." Lucas said and smiled a bit. "But to his defence, you were pretty mean to him too." He said. Haley stopped in her tracks and took a deep breath to prevent herself from not screaming.

"Luke, I understand you two are brothers and all but I've been your best friend for 10 years." She said through gritted teeth. "It'd be nice to see you put some value in that." she said and threw her lunch in the garbage can.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked.

"I'm not hungry anymore." She said and started to leave.

"Haley!" he yelled after her but she wouldn't stop. Nathan came next to Lucas.

"Dude, what did you do to make her so mad?" he asked. "You've gotta teach me!" he said grinning.

"Shut the hell up, Nathan." Lucas snapped and started towards their usual table.

"Ok, what's up with you? Brooke not giving you any?" Nathan asked while sitting down opposite from Lucas.

"It's definitely not that." Lucas mumbled. He coughed and turned to look at Nathan and sighed. "It's about Haley."

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"She thinks I'm taking your side in all of this."

"Which is smart." Nathan said smirking.

"She's my best friend, Nate! She knows me better than anyone else and she's always been there for me." Lucas said.

"Yeah, I get that." Nathan said. "Just don't forget that blood is thicker than water, or whatever." He said not being sure what the saying was.

"She's my best friend and I don't want to have to choose between you two." Lucas said. "Just try to be nicer to her. She really is a cool girl." Lucas said.

"I find it hard to see past the evil in her."

"Just try to be nicer." Lucas pleaded.

"Not gonna happen, Lucas. She's the biggest bitch around me."

"And according to her, you're the biggest asshole around her."

"Hey, if she would play nice, I would." He said.

"You just have to take the first step, Nate."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you hurt her feelings." Lucas said. Nathan's ego stopped him from saying that she had hurt him too.

"I won't promise anything." Nathan finally said and started to eat his sandwich.

Later that day...

"What's up, Tutor girl?" Brooke asked when Haley came to the gym. It was almost 5 pm and the cheerleading and basketball practises were almost over. Brooke and Peyton were stretching close to the bleachers.

"Nothing, just got done with yet another annoying tutoring session." Haley said referring to her tutee. "I don't know which one is worse: tutoring the retard-jock or waiting for the Asshole." She said looking at Nathan while sitting down on the bleachers.

"Whitey doesn't want you at the practises?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah he does but I have tutoring. He wants me there every day next week when the playoffs start."

"What about Forrest Gump?"

"I changed him for Laura's 'Sweating Fisherman'."

"The kid with the mullet?"

"That's the one. Big problems with English. The good thing is that I don't have to start with him in three weeks. Thank god."

"So, whatcha doing tonight?" Brooke asked changing subjects.

"I have no idea." Haley said. "Cleaning, laundry, dishes... Whatever he says." Haley said looking at Nathan and sighed. "I swear to god I've vacuumed the place like 4 times this week." Right then Lucas and Nathan came to them.

"Hey, honey." Lucas said and kissed Brooke. He then turned to look at Nathan and gave him a pointed look. When Nathan didn't acknowledge that, Lucas elbowed him lightly and cleared his throat.

"Oh, yeah." Nathan said and turned to look at Haley. "Luke and I are playing ball with the guys tonight so you can have the night off." Nathan said. Haley looked at him surprised.

"Really? Umh, thanks." She said.

"Yeah, whatever. I still expect breakfast by 10 am tomorrow." He said and left with Lucas to get his stuff from the locker room.

"At least you got the night off." Peyton said.

"Which is perfect!" Brooke started excited. "Cause we're going to a party tonight!"

"What?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, just as girls! We're gonna have so much fun!" Brooke said excited.

"What do you suggest, Brooke?" Peyton asked.

"Well, there's a party at this frat house and we're totally gonna go there and rock the place." She said excited.

"I don't know, Brooke." Haley started. "I mean, it's my only night off from him." She said.

"Which should be reason enough to get crazy and party!" Brooke said. Peyton and Haley looked at each other realizing they really didn't have much of a choice when Brooke had her mind made up about something.

"Sure, let's do that." Haley finally said and Peyton nodded her head in agreement. Brooke clapped her hands together furiously in enthusiasm.

"Sweet! This is gonna be so awesome!" she said and then turned to look at Peyton. "Peyton, I'll choose your party clothes. None of that gothic thing you've got going on." She then turned to Haley.

"And Haley, I'll do your hair." She said and then continued. "And make up. And choose the clothes. The whole _shebang_!"

"Hey, I can't be that bad!"

"Of course not, honey. Your hair is."

Haley smacked her lightly but Brooke ignored it.

"But no fear, Brooke is here." Brooke said with an excited gleam in her eyes. "Yes, tonight will be great. Tonight will be awesome." She said slowly while rubbing her hands together and looking past the girls into the distance.

"You do know that you're starting to sound a bit psychotic?" Haley asked studying her face carefully.

"I'm fine with that." She said snapping out of her daze. "P.Sawyer, take that 'skeezy in the jungle' top and those tight jeans I bought you and be ready by 1800 hours." She then turned to look at Haley.

"But-" Peyton started but Brooke was on a roll.

"And Tutor Girl! P.Sawyer and I'll be at Nathan's place approximately 1815. We'll get ready there."

"Roger that, ma'am." Haley said in deep voice and saluted Brooke.

* * *

"So, what time are you leaving?" Haley asked from Nathan. It was after school and they were walking towards Nathan's apartment. 

"Why, trying to get rid of me?" Nathan asked bored.

"Just counting down the minutes to my night off." She muttered.

Nathan was about to say something when he saw a person standing next to his apartment, leaning on the door. Nathan groaned out loud.

"What do you want, dad?" he asked annoyed.

Haley looked at Dan and frowned when she saw him looking at her from head to toe. Haley tried to look as confident as possible but Dan's intense staring gave her the creeps.

"Just thought I'd come by to make sure you're prepared for the game. I gotta say, son that I'm pretty disappointed in you. Having sex only few days before the game? You gotta be able to give your 110 at the game. Lose the girl." He said looking at Haley. Haley rolled her eyes and huffed annoyed.

"We're not having sex, dad." Nathan said and took a step in front of Haley almost protectively. Sure, he didn't get along with her but no one deserved the wrath of Dan.

"Dan Scott. Nathan's father." Dan said while offering his hand to Haley while staring at her.

"Yeah, I know." Haley said and shook the hand.

"Oh really?" he asked interested. "And why's that?" he asked with a smirk. Nathan looked at his dad in anger and disgust. How dare he flirt with her.

"Well, for one I'm best friends with your son." She said with a sweet smile.

"Nathan, why haven't you told me about her?" Dan asked.

"Actually, I meant your other son." Haley said sweetly. Dan's face fell when he heard that. "And second, I also work at Karen's cafe." Haley said still smiling. When Dan heard that, he took a step back and looked at her disgusted.

"Dad, meet Haley James." Nathan said proudly when he saw Dan taking a step back. _Now we only need few more and he's down the stairs._

"Since when have you been slumming, son?" Dan asked from Nathan. Nathan looked at him furiously while Haley just smirked. Now she wouldn't feel bad about giving him a piece of her mind.

"Not that it's any of your business but Haley's not my girlfriend, she's my temporary roommate." Nathan said annoyed.

"Son, if you're in that desperate need of money that you can't even pay your own rent, just come home!"

"Dad, I'm doing just fine." Nathan said annoyed. "Now, if that's all..." he said.

"Come home, Nathan. You're wasting your life playing house with white trash. When do you realize that I just want what's best for you?"

"What's best for me is you out of my life. For good. Leave." Nathan said.

"Fine, I'll see you at the game. Your condition's crap. You better improve it."

"My condition's fine. Leave." Nathan said a bit more forcefully and opened his apartment door to go in.

"You're ruining your life!" Dan yelled before Nathan huffed annoyed and went inside his apartment.

Haley followed him but before closing the door, she turned to look at Dan one more time.

"What do you want?" he asked nastily from her.

"You know, you should be nicer to your kid, Mr. Scott. He's the one who chooses your nursing home." Haley said with a smirk and slammed the door in his face.

Haley shut the door and turned around happy that she had gotten the last word. She went in the kitchen and started to do her homework. Nathan looked at her for the longest time before finally walking in front of her.

"Thanks." He said sincerely.

"You're welcome." Haley said with a smile.

"I'm sorry he called you white trash."

"I'm sorry your dad's an ass." She said.

They looked at each other for few seconds with smiles but then they both blinked and snapped back to reality.

"I'm hungry, make me dinner." Nathan said trying to sound snappy or mean but it came out totally opposite.

"Yeah, as long as you don't talk to me." Haley replied in the same voice.

* * *

So, any thoughts? 


	6. Chapter 6a

Hey, everyone. SORRY SORRY SORRY for the delay. Due to some technical problems, I haven't been able to update on fanfiction dot net earlier than now. If any of you visited my profile you saw the links to three other sites that already have chapter 6 updated. Anyways, sorry for the delay and I promise to update chapter 6b one day earlier which is Tuesday to make up for the delay. :)

Anyways, thank you ALL for the awesome reviews and please, please, PLEASE, keep them coming. :) Anyways, I divided chapter 6 into two parts because of the length. But here's chapter 6a. Hope you enjoy… :)

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Chapter 6a

"You look bitchin'!"

"If my boots could talk, they'd scream: 'fuck me now'."

"And you're complaining because...?"

"You're unbelievable." Haley said smiling.

"You can barely even see the shoes." Brooke tried to justify. Why the girl in front of her refused to look sexy and smoking hot was beyond her understanding.

"They come to mid thigh!"

"But you're wearing jeans to cover most of them."

"Yeah, jeans that's two sizes too small."

Haley, Peyton and Brooke were getting ready at Nathan's place. Haley looked down at the clothes she was wearing: so tight jeans that she could barely sit, a black top that was hanging very low and high healed black boots.

"And you can practically see my bra." Haley said looking down and trying to arrange the top so it would cover her black bra. "Peyton, I need your honest opinion. Is this top too slutty?" Haley asked turning to look at Peyton but Brooke spoke first.

"Honey, there's nothing slutty about that top."

"Didn't you say that Lucas tried to hide this from you?"

"Like I wouldn't find it. I mean, hiding it behind the fridge? Amateur." Brooke mumbled and then turned to look at waiting Haley. "Yes, which means that I haven't worn it yet. It's brand new!"

"Peyton, honest opinion. Do I look like a slut?" Haley asked turning to look at Peyton. Peyton took a hold of her shoulders and looked at her.

"Haley honey, I'm wearing a leopard pattern top that I've only worn to Jake, my _boyfriend_, not even twice but only _once_ and even then I was extremely drunk. Not to even mention that it's supposed to be underwear instead something to be worn in public. Trust me, _you_ don't look like a slut." Peyton said and then turned to look at Brooke. "I still can't believe you're making me wear this!"

"Well, look at my top!" Brooke said. "You can see half of my bra and you don't hear me whining."

"But-" Haley started.

"What are you two complaining about? We are three very hot girls at the prime of our lives! We are supposed to look hot! We are supposed to have fun! Ten years from now we're all be married with three kids and getting wrinkles and hanging boobs." Haley and Peyton burst out laughing.

"Ok, don't you think you're exaggerating just a bit?" Haley asked laughing.

"Only two kids?" Brooke suggested.

"You are unbelievable." Peyton said smiling.

"Yes, I keep hearing that." She said smirking. "Now cheer up! We all look hot!"

"I don't know..." Peyton said covering her cleavage with her hands.

"Zip it, P.Sawyer. We need a guy's opinion." Brooke said. "Where's Nathan?"

"Said something about lifting weights or something, I don't usually pay attention to him." Haley said.

Right on cue, the front door opened and Nathan walked in wearing sweaty basketball clothes and holding a basketball. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the three girls in front of him wearing their party clothes.

His eyes stopped at Haley and he stared at her for the longest time. He tried to get his head together and say something but it was as if his mouth wasn't working. He finally forced himself to say something snappy.

"I give you one night off and you turn my apartment into a fucking Moulin Rouge?" he asked looking at Haley.

"Stop whining, Chloe." Haley said annoyed.

Nathan had never seen Haley wear that much make up and so revealing clothes. Before the very detailed memories of her giving him a lap dance invaded his mind again, he quickly tore his eyes off of her and headed towards the kitchen and took a Gatorade out of the fridge.

"Have you ever actually called the other by their actual name?" Brooke asked from Nathan and Haley.

"Nope, just girls' names. Or if he's not being an ass then by his last name." Haley said but then looked like she was thinking. "Which never happens, so just the girls' names."

"And she usually goes by 'Bitch'." Nathan concluded.

"Ok..." Brooke said wanting to change the subject. "So you agree we look hot?" Brooke asked from Nathan.

"Well, more like sl-" he started but got cut off by a calm, sweet Brooke.

"Nathan dear, you better choose your words very carefully. There are three of us. We can scratch you to death." She said and Peyton scratched the air and hissed at him in emphasis. Nathan looked at them and swallowed.

"You all look very beautiful." He said and quickly took a long sip from the bottle.

"Smart boy." Brooke said with a smile. "What are you doing here anyways? I thought you were gonna play ball with Lucas?"

"We just got back from the gym and he needed to go home to eat or something but yeah, we're gonna play later."

"So, you won't mind dropping us off at this frat house?" Brooke asked grinning.

"Well-"

"I wasn't asking, Nathan." Brooke said smiling sweetly. Peyton hissed and scratched the air again to remind him just what they could do to him.

"Sure, whatever you need." he said slowly.

"Perfect! Be ready in 15 minutes!" she said and turned to look at Haley. "We need to work on your hair!"

After getting done with Haley's hair, they left the apartment. Brooke gave Nathan directions and he dropped them off in front of the already packed frat house.

Nathan looked at the front yard which had about 10 shirtless frat guys wasted carrying some kegs inside.

"Are you sure you wanna go there?" Nathan asked from Brooke who was almost out of the car.

"Why, are you concerned about us?" Brooke asked smiling. Nathan rolled his eyes and laughed a bit.

"Just something Luke would do." Nathan said and turned to look outside at Haley who was standing next to Peyton while trying to arrange the loose-hanging top so it wouldn't show so much cleavage.

He also noticed the college guys whistling at Haley and staring at her ass. His eyes narrowed in anger. Brooke followed his gaze and smiled a bit.

"No worries, N. Scott. She'll be fine." Brooke smiled. Nathan turned to look at Brooke.

"No, I mean- I wasn't-" he started but stopped talking when he saw the huge smirk on Brooke's lips.

"Don't forget: we can scratch." Brooke said and slammed the car door shut while giving him a wink. She turned around to look at Peyton and Haley.

"Vamos, chicas!" Brooke said, slapped their asses, took a hold of their hands and started to drag them towards the front door.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Peyton asked while looking around. The guys on the front had stopped whatever they'd been doing and were now whistling at them.

"Yeah, positive." Brooke said grinning.

"Why do you want this so bad anyways? In case you've forgotten, you already have an awesome boyfriend." Haley pointed out while making her way towards the crowded kitchen where the alcohol was.

"Yes, I do and I wouldn't change it for the world. But it's always nice to have fun with my home girls."

"_Home girls_?" Haley asked laughing. Brooke smiled while starting to fix them their drinks.

"You do know we're all white?" Peyton added.

"Yep, but both of you are still my girls. Sometimes I just wanna party with you, _sans_ the boyfriend." She said and handed them their red plastic cups.

"I so know what you mean." Peyton said. "I mean, I love Jake to death but I can't party the same with him as I would with you."

"And sometimes it's nice to just hang out with girls and do girly stuff." Brooke said and then continued with a grin. "Besides, Luke would never let me out in this outfit."

"Cheers to the outfit!" Peyton said and lifted her cup. They all clacked their cups together and took sips at the same time. Haley and Peyton coughed after swallowing.

"Jesus, what _is_ this?" Peyton asked.

"Rum coke." Brooke said drinking more.

"How much rum did you put in here? You know it's supposed to be 2/8."

"Yeah, something like that." she said innocently while taking another sip. Haley and Peyton looked at each other smiling. They both knew that Brooke had a habit of making just a bit too strong drinks.

"Oh, cheer up, girls. It's just alcohol." Brooke said.

"You know, I actually think we're gonna have fun tonight." Haley said while taking another sip from the plastic cup.

"I agree!" Brooke said. "Now let's go and show those college skanks on the dance floor how it's _really_ done." She said smirking. "And I'm seeing some fine meat there too." Brooke said looking at a group of guys who looked like a live advertisement for Abercrombie & Fitch.

"Just remember Brooke, we can only look." Peyton said winking.

"I know that, P. Sawyer. Our favorite Tutor Girl here on the other hand can do so much more." Brooke added and grinned.

"Yeah, 'cause hooking up with random guys is _so_ me." Haley said sarcastically.

"You did with that Chris-dude last year." Peyton said.

"And that one guy when you were visiting Vivian in Florida last summer." Brooke said.

"Wait, you hooked up with someone there?" Peyton asked confused.

"Brooke!" Haley said annoyed. "You weren't supposed to tell anyone!"

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Peyton said looking at Haley a bit hurt.

"Believe me, there's not much to tell." Haley said.

"Then why didn't you tell me?"

"I was embarrassed that I had hooked up with some random guy, again! I was already embarrassed about the whole Chris thing and when it happened again, I just felt so..." she said thinking of a proper word.

"Slutty?" Brooke suggested.

"I was gonna say maybe 'weak' or even 'dirty', but thanks. Slut is _much_ better."

"Hey, I was just kidding, you know that." Brooke said apologetically. "And you also know that there's nothing to be ashamed about. So you wanted to have some fun, big deal!" she said.

"Thanks and to my defence, I was extremely drunk both times." She said.

"Was the Florida guy even good looking?" Peyton asked.

"Yeah, he was ok." Haley said.

"Good, 'cause Chris was, how do I put this in a nice way, he was..."

"Weak?" Brooke suggested. "Bony? Scrawny? Skinny?"

"Hey! He wasn't that bad looking." Haley said but then started to think. "I mean sure, the hair was kinda messy in a bad way and he didn't have a hot body like Nathan," she said not even realizing. Peyton and Brooke gave each other a quick grin.

"...and he must've been pretty bad in bed, since I can't even remember anything about it."

"Remind us again why you hooked up with him?" Brooke asked laughing.

"He said I can sing."

"Haley honey, you're tone deaf."

"He said I was pretty."

"You had like a 2nd degree sun burn on your face. You even called yourself a crab."

"I was completely, totally drunk! Shit-faced! Buzzed! Fucked up!" she said defending herself.

"Hey, calm down. Like I said, there's nothing to be ashamed about." Brooke said.

"Well, at least the next morning as soon as I woke up, and threw up by the way, I bolted his hotel room and luckily haven't seen him since." Haley said. "And we agreed we wouldn't talk about that in public. So, sshhhh!" she said with an annoyed voice.

"Relax, Hales. It doesn't make you a slut if you have one one-night-stand." Brooke said.

"As opposed to having four one-night-stands?" Peyton asked grinning. Brooke slapped her on the arm.

"Hey! I had just gotten my fake i.d and I hadn't even met Luke yet so zip it." Brooke said smiling a bit. "Besides, you shouldn't talk, missie! You were there at every college party with me."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... Let's just have fun tonight, ok?"

"Amen to that, sister."

* * *

"She was wearing _what_?" the ball Lucas was aiming at the basket, landed nowhere near the net. 

"Dude, calm down."

"You're telling me my girlfriend is wearing a top she bought from a _lingerie_ store?"

"Yeah..."

"And you let her out of your car? Out of your _apartment_?"

"It wasn't anything different from Peyton's or Haley's outfits." Another ball, this time from Jake's hands, landed also far away from the basket, right next to Lucas' ball. Neither Jake nor Lucas made an effort to get them.

"Excuse me?" Jake asked not believing what he had just heard.

"Well, she had an animal pattern top or something like that on."

"She wore the _jungle _top? She's only worn that once for me. And even then it was only after six tequila shots." Jake mumbled.

"And what was that about Haley you were saying?" Lucas asked.

"Well, she had a pretty revealing top on too." Nathan said grabbing a ball from the ground uncomfortably. He hadn't expected a third degree from them.

"Which top?" Lucas asked slowly trying not to hit Nathan for being so stupid.

"You know all of her clothes?" Nathan asked. "I thought I had a _brother_."

"Dude, she's been my best friend for 10 years. After her siblings moved out and before Brooke and Peyton came along, _I_ was her shopping partner. So yeah, I know all of her clothes." Lucas said through gritted teeth. He didn't want to think that both of his girls were out there in skanky clothes.

"Ok, don't get your panties in a twist." Nathan said.

"So I ask again..." Lucas continued ignoring his comment. "Which top was she wearing?"

"I don't know, some black one." He said trying to sound as vague as possible even though the image of party-clad Haley was imprinted in his mind.

"Ok, she only has two black ones. Did it have silver strings on the sides?"

"No."

"What about glitter on the front?" Lucas asked.

"It kinda didn't have a front at all. It hung pretty low."

"What? Are you sure? She doesn't have a top like-" Lucas started but then realized something.

"Oh. My. God." Lucas paused to take a deep breath. "She's wearing Brooke's clothes. It's gotta be that new top I tried to hide from her."

"You tried to do _what_?"

"I should've known she would find it! What was I thinking hiding it behind her fridge! Amateur!" he said hitting himself in the head few times.

"You know you're psychotic, right?" Nathan asked doing a perfect free throw.

"What?" Nathan asked when he saw Lucas glaring at him.

"I'm trying to think whether to beat your sorry ass now or after she tells me how many guys eye-fucked her."

* * *

"So, what's your name or should I just call you Gorgeous?" 

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me."

"Oh, come on girl, you know you're hot."

"Yeah, I do know. Can I continue to dance with my friends now?"

"Only if you tell me your name."

"Fine, I _assume_ you can spell. The last name is F-F-O. And the first name is K-C-U-F."

"Huh?"

"Now reverse it."

"Wait, what?"

"Should've known what they say about assuming."

The guy blinked in confusion.

"You know, when you assume you just make an ass out of- you know what, never mind."

Deep annoyed sigh from Haley.

"Goodbye, loser." Haley said annoyed and pushed the college guy out of her way so she could see Brooke and Peyton again.

"Haley! That was so rude!" Brooke said horrified while Peyton just had a dreamy face.

"Oh please, I was way nicer to him than to the first guy."

"I miss Jake." Peyton said looking past the girls into space. Haley and Brooke looked at her for a second before turning to look at each other again.

"How can you ever meet any new people if you're always this mean to them?" Brooke complained.

"Brooke, I didn't come here to find a guy. I came to have fun with you and Peyt. And also cause I didn't have a choice."

"I wonder where he is." Peyton said again in that distracted voice. This time, Brooke and Haley ignored her. They were used to Peyton being in her own little world dreaming about Jake.

"Yeah, well you're gonna have to change that attitude of yours, missy." Brooke said to Haley smiling.

"Whatever." Haley smirked and took a sip from her drink.

"Hey, is that Bevin there?" Brooke asked pointing towards the hallway.

"Jake? Where!" Peyton finally snapped out of her daze and started to look frantically around.

"Not Jake, Bevin!" Brooke said pointing towards the girl.

"Yeah, I think that's her." Peyton said disappointed that it wasn't Jake. "Bitch." She added like it was Bevin's fault that she wasn't Jake.

"Ok... I'm gonna go talk to her." Brooke said and left. Haley turned to look at Peyton.

"I need a refill." Haley said drinking the last of her rum coke.

"I need to go to the bathroom." Peyton said quickly. Haley looked at her for a second.

"You're gonna call Jake, aren't you?" she asked smirking.

"Is it that obvious?"

"Yep. I'm gonna find Brooke after my refill. Take your time with Jake and tell him I said hi." Haley smiled before waving goodbye and heading towards the packed kitchen. She managed to find the rum and the coke and started to fix herself a drink.

"And more coke than rum this time…" Haley mumbled and turned around to put the coke and the rum back. She then grabbed the cup and took a big sip. She greeted a blonde guy next to her who was staring at her intently.

"Almost as bad as Brooke's." she muttered while drinking some more and heading to find Brooke. She made her way through the crowded room looking for Brooke but when she couldn't right away find her, she went to the hallway where she saw Bevin.

"Hey, where did Brooke go?" Haley asked sweating a bit.

"Bathroom or something." she said.

"Jesus, it's hot in here." Haley said wiping the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand.

"You been dancing a lot?" Bevin asked smiling widely.

"Yeah, for like the past two hours." Haley said taking another sip and fanning her hands in front of her face. "Alright, I'm gonna go find Brooke. Later, Bev." Haley said and left.

Haley started to make her way towards the kitchen when she accidentally ran into some college geek. Haley didn't even hit him that hard but she still felt dizzy. After apologizing, she started to make her way towards the bathroom while wondering why she was feeling so hot. She looked at the drink in her hand for a minute but then shrugged her shoulders.

"I guess I put more rum than I thought." she mumbled.

Haley took a hold of the wall when she felt a wave of dizziness. She almost fell on the ground but a pair of hands took a strong grip from her hand to stop her from falling. Haley turned to look the person next to her. It was the blonde guy from the kitchen.

"Hey, you." she said while swaying from one side to the other. "Where's the bathroom?" she asked mumbling.

"Oh, I can take you there." he said not letting go of her. Had Haley been more coherent, she would've seen the weird gleam in his eyes.

The blonde guy started to drag Haley towards the staircase. He then opened the closed door that led to the basement.

"The bathroom's there?" she asked taking hold of the wall with her other hand. "Christ, it's hot in here."

"Yeah, but it's much cooler downstairs. And weren't you looking for your friends? They're down there." he said while pushing Haley lightly. He still had a strong grip on her other hand. Right after they were through the door case, he turned to lock the door which was something Haley would have noticed and wondered about if she hadn't been so out of it.

He took Haley slowly downstairs and guided her towards the couch where he pushed her roughly.

"Ouch, what are you doing? This isn't the bathroom." Haley said slowly while trying to get up but her head started to spin harder.

He grinned at her with those ice cold eyes before unbuttoning his shirt revealing a white wife beater.

That's when Haley started to panic. And suddenly she realized everything. She had been drugged.

"Oh my god, did you slip something in my drink?" she asked already knowing the answer while trying to get up from the couch again but her legs weren't working. The action made her head spin even harder and she could feel that she couldn't stay awake for much longer.

"Shhhh, just calm down." he said unzipping his jeans.

"Leave me alone. Help. Someone help." she tried to yell but only a whisper came out. The guy put his hand over her mouth and forced her to drink another sip of the drink. Haley could instantly feel the influence. She saw him take his wife beater off and take a step towards her.

She put all her energy and adrenaline into trying to keep him away but all she managed to do was scratch his chest. He yelped in pain and backhanded her hard before taking a hold of her arms and forcing them above her head.

The last thing she felt before passing out was the pain on her lip from his slap and his rough hand pulling her top off.

* * *

So, any thoughts:) 


	7. Chapter 6b

Hey, everyone! Thank you all so much for reviewing even though I updated like 5 days later than normally. Anyways, as promised here's the second part for chapter six. Hoe you enjoy and don't forget to leave a review.

* * *

Chapter 6b

"Love you too, hon. Bye." Peyton said before hanging up the phone. She exited the bathroom and started to look for her friends. She looked around the kitchen and the balcony and finally found Brooke from the living room.

"Hey, there you are!" Brooke said when she saw Peyton. "Where the hell did you go?" she asked. Peyton looked at her confused.

"I talked to Jake. Didn't Haley tell you that?" Peyton asked.

"I haven't seen her since I went to talk to Bevin." Brooke said.

"She told me she would get a refill and then find you."

"I went to the bathroom after I talked to Bev."

"So, where the hell is she?" Peyton asked.

"She might've just gone to find a bathroom since both of us seemed to be hogging one." Brooke joked.

"Let's go find her." Peyton said taking a hold of Brooke's arm. They searched for a while until they found Bevin.

"Hey, did Haley find you?" Bevin asked when she saw Brooke.

"No, was she looking for us? Where is she?" Brooke asked concerned.

"She was looking for you just a moment ago. She was pretty out of it." she said.

"What do you mean?" Peyton asked worried. She knew Haley rarely got drunk and few minutes ago when they'd seen her, she was just fine.

"Well, she was complaining she was hot and all and she was walking funnily." she said and noticed the worried looks on Peyton's and Brooke's faces. "Relax, she was just drunk." she said.

"Did you see where she went?" Peyton asked with a shaky voice. They both knew something was not right.

"No, but she left that way. I'll help you look." Bevin said pointing the direction Haley had went. Brooke grabbed Peyton's hand and started to make her way towards the direction while Bevin followed them. They looked everywhere but just couldn't find her. They finally stopped in front of the staircase to talk.

"Where the hell is she?" Peyton asked worried.

"I don't know but we just need to find her. She's gotta be here somewhere." she said and was about to say something consoling when she heard the guys next to her talking. They were trying to open the door that led to the basement.

"Dude, why the fuck is this door closed?" the first frat guy asked.

"Don't ask me, man. I didn't lock it." the second answered.

"I saw a blonde guy go there with some wasted girl. He's not one of you?" a random guy asked.

"No, the basement's off limits and all the guys who live here know it."

By then Peyton had already interrupted them.

"Excuse me. You saw a girl go there? Was she a brunette? What was she wearing?" Peyton asked.

"Haley! Haley, you down there!" Brooke yelled while banging the door.

"She had this _very_ hot black top with a _very_ nice cleavage." the guy said and high-fived the two frat guys. Brooke looked at them furiously and pushed the random guy against the wall.

"Listen to me, you dick! That girl down there is my friend and something's wrong!"

"Relax, she was just drunk." he said. Brooke turned to look at the two frat guys not wanting to waste anymore time.

"You open this door before I break it." she said glaring them.

"She _really_ will break it." Bevin said to the guys.

The other guy took his key out and unlocked the door. As soon as the door opened, Brooke, Peyton and Bevin ran downstairs as fast as they could while yelling Haley's name. They hit the light switch on and stopped in their tracks when they saw her.

She was lying on the couch unconscious, pants unzipped and bleeding from the lip. She was wearing a bra but her top was lying on the floor. The whole basement was freezing because the back door was open. The guy had obviously ran when he had heard them banging the upstairs door. Brooke snapped out of her shock and ran next to her.

"Haley! Wake up, Haley! Please, wake up." She started to shake the girl.

"What's wrong with her?" one of the guys who had followed them asked. Peyton stood frozen and just stared at Haley. Bevin went next to Brooke and tried to shake Haley again but she still wasn't waking up.

"Peyton, call Lucas." Brooke said trying to hold her tears back. "Peyton, now! Call Lucas!" Brooke yelled when Peyton didn't move. Peyton snapped out of her shock and hit speed dial 5 with shaky hands.

"Hello?" Lucas answered his cell.

"Luke, you gotta come here right now. Something's happened. Oh my god, please come here." She rambled sniffling back tears.

"Calm down, Peyton. What's wrong? Is it Brooke?" Lucas asked worried. Jake and Nathan stopped their game to listen to Lucas.

"No, Brooke's fine." Peyton said shaking and not taking her eyes of off the pale Haley. "It's Haley."

"What happened? What's wrong?" Lucas asked starting to panic a bit. "Peyton! What's wrong with Haley!" Lucas asked louder when Peyton didn't answer. Nathan immediately stiffened up and took a step towards Lucas to try to hear better.

"She's unconscious and we can't wake her up!" Peyton said crying. "She... she... someone drugged her, Luke!"

"How do you know that? She could be just wasted and passed out." Lucas suggested unconvincingly. He didn't want to believe that his best friend was drugged.

"Luke, she's not drunk." Peyton said.

"How can you know that!" Lucas asked desperately.

"Because we lost her for 10 minutes and when we found her she was shirtless and her pants were unzipped!" Peyton screamed hysterically.

"Oh my god." Lucas said all the blood draining out of his face. "Was she... so you think she was... did someone..." Lucas asked with shaky hand. He could barely keep the phone in his hand.

"I don't think so. I think we came right on time. Please, Lucas you gotta come here. We don't know what to do." Peyton pleaded.

"Stay calm, we'll be right there. Is he still there? Did you see the asshole?" he asked his face changing from worried to furious.

"No, when we came to the basement, the back door was open and no one was here. No one remembers what he even looked like." Peyton said.

"Ok, we'll be there. In the meantime, call the poison information center and ask what to do. Bye Peyton." He said and hung up before she had time to reply. "We're leaving." Lucas said to the guys and started to walk fast towards their cars. Jake and Nathan quickly followed him.

"Luke, what's going on?" Jake asked worried.

"Nathan, you know where the party's at. I'll follow you in my truck." Lucas said to Nathan ignoring Jake. He couldn't bring himself to say the words.

"Sure." Nathan said. "Luke, what happened to her?" Nathan asked stopping in front of his car. Lucas was about to ignore him like he had ignored Jake but something about the worried, calm voice stopped him.

"Someone slipped something on her drink." Lucas said. "Brooke and Peyton got there on time but they can't wake her." He said and went inside his truck. Jake and Nathan stood in shock for few seconds.

"Let's go!" Lucas snapped. Jake quickly went to sit next to Lucas while Nathan went inside his own car and started towards the party.

"Peyton, what did Lucas say?" Brooke asked Peyton when she hung up the phone. Brooke was kneeled on the floor in front of Haley stroking her hair.

"He said he'll be right here and that we should call the poison information center." Peyton said and finally came closer to the couch and sat down next to Brooke. Brooke then grabbed the top Haley had been wearing from the floor and put it on her.

Bevin was about to join them when she saw something on the floor behind the couch.

"Is this his shirt?" Bevin asked and lifted a dark button up shirt from the ground. Brooke and Peyton turned to look at it in disgust.

"Check the pocket." Brooke said. Bevin pulled everything out of the front pocket and dropped them on the floor. Bevin started to go through everything.

"Oh god." She said taking a palette of pills from the floor.

"What are those?" Brooke asked.

"I think they're the roofies. It's missing one pill." She said.

"I should call the poison place." Brooke said and dialled 411 and asked for the number.

"I'm gonna go outside to get the guys when they get here." Bevin said, gave the pills to Brooke and left.

"Yes, hi. Someone roofied my friend and now she won't wake up. We don't know what to do." Brooke said as calmly as possible when someone answered. She listened to the person for a while and then answered her questions.

"Yeah, we found the pills. They're yellow with black dots in them... we believe she only had one but we can't be sure... About 15 minutes ago... She was sweating a lot and it looked like she was drunk but she hadn't had that much to drink."

Brooke listened to the person on the other end for a long time before thanking them and hanging up.

"What did they say?" Peyton asked.

"Haley's not in danger. The woman said the whole point of roofies is to knock someone out, not to hurt. She said that Haley just needs to sleep it off and drink lots of fluids when she wakes up. She needs to take it easy for couple of days." Brooke said.

"Any side effects?" Peyton asked.

"She mentioned short term amnesia which might not be so bad since she probably wants to forget all about this." Brooke said.

"Do you think we got here on time?" Peyton whispered with tears in her eyes while looking at Haley.

"Yeah, I mean of course." Brooke said comforting Peyton. "Her pants were on and the asshole who did it wouldn't have bothered to put them back on if he had taken them off. Besides she was missing for less than 15 minutes." Brooke reasoned.

"Thank god we got here on time." Peyton said. "God, if I hadn't talked to Jake for so long..." Peyton started.

"No, don't even go there!" Brooke said turning to look at her and spoke with a strong voice. "This was the bastard's fault, not ours!"

"I just can't believe this is happening." Peyton whispered and rubbed her temples. Brooke circled her arm around Peyton.

"It'll be ok. Luke will be here any minute." Brooke said.

"He's gonna freak out when he sees her."

"I know." Brooke said and sighed. "But he'll take care of everything."

"I just want Jake here." Peyton cried. Brooke tightened her hold on Peyton.

The girls stayed in front of Haley holding her hand, hugging each other until they heard Lucas, Bevin, Jake and Nathan come in.

"What the hell happened?" Lucas asked running towards Haley while Brooke and Peyton stood up out of his way. Lucas kneeled in front of Haley and shook her lightly trying to wake her up but like before, she wasn't waking up.

"Brooke went to talk to Bevin while I went to the bathroom. Haley said she would get a refill and then find Brooke but she never found her. She wasn't even drunk when we last saw her!" Peyton rambled.

Lucas noticed the blood on her lip.

"The asshole hit her!" he yelled while wiping the blood away and then took a deep breath. He had to be smart for Haley's sake. "Ok, we need to think straight here now." Lucas said.

"Should we take her to the hospital?" Jake asked.

"No, the lady from the poison information center said that Haley just needs to sleep it off, drink fluids when she wakes up and take it easy for few days." Brooke said.

"We should take her home. Away from this place." Peyton said quietly. The basement was giving her the creeps.

"Where?"

"We'll take her back to my place." Nathan said speaking for the first time since they got there. He hadn't taken his eyes off of Haley.

"But-" Lucas started.

"We'll take her back to my place." Nathan said more sternly.

"What about her house?" Peyton asked and got a glare from Nathan.

"Her parents are out of town and we don't have the key." Lucas said.

"And since I live alone, there will be no one to ask questions." Nathan said.

When the rest of them still looked uncertain, he continued. "Besides, all her clothes and stuff are there." Nathan finished. Brooke studied Nathan's face carefully.

"It makes sense." Brooke said not taking her eyes off of Nathan's. She knew how Nathan felt about Haley and could understand him wanting to keep her near.

"Ok, let's do that." Lucas said and took Haley in his arms.

"Let's go through the back." Brooke suggested and they all left the basement.

"So, Haley should probably ride with Nathan 'cause there's more room in his back seat than in yours." Brooke said to Lucas when they were getting closer to the cars. Nathan looked at Brooke with a thankful look.

"Yeah, you're right." Lucas said and put Haley carefully in Nathan's backseat. Peyton climbed in there with her and Jake took shotgun.

"Bev, you need a ride?" Brooke asked from Bevin.

"Skillz is picking me up any minute but thanks anyways." She said and smiled a bit.

"Thanks, Bevin, for helping us out." Brooke said to Bevin.

"No problem. Hope she's ok." She said.

"She will be." Brooke said. "We should get going. Talk to ya later." Brooke said before going inside Lucas' truck and driving off.

They drove to Nathan's apartment and carried Haley to Nathan's bedroom. They all sat down around her in silence. Brooke suddenly left and came back few minutes ago with clothes in her hands.

"I need to change her clothes." Brooke announced remembering Haley complaining how tight her jeans were.

"What?" Lucas asked confused.

"I don't want her to sleep in those uncomfortable clothes. So, shoosh." She said and pointed the door to the guys. Peyton shut the door after the guys left.

Brooke laid pyjama pants and a t-shirt on the bed.

"Help me with these, please." Brooke said to Peyton and together they helped Haley out of her top, jeans and boots and into the new clothes.

"You can come in." Brooke yelled after they had changed the clothes. The guys got back and took their seats around Haley.

"She looks comfortable." Lucas whispered when he saw Haley shift positions a bit. She looked much more peaceful than before. Brooke was looking at something in her hands. Lucas turned to look at her worried.

"What's wrong, baby?" he asked. She looked up at him and handed him a small, black piece of clothing. It was Brooke's black top, the one Haley had been wearing.

"Burn it." she whispered and blinked back the tears that were starting to form on her eyes.

"Babe-"

"Burn it!" she said. Lucas sighed and put the piece of clothing away. There was a long silence till Brooke ended it.

"You know, we don't all have to stay here." Brooke said. "I'm gonna be here all night so the rest of you can go home and catch some sleep if you want."

"I'm gonna stay here too, Brooke." Peyton said and smiled at her friend. She knew how Brooke felt and wanted to be there for her.

"Might as well be here." Jake said kissing Peyton at the top of her head.

"Oh, I'm so not leaving." Lucas said without taking his eyes off of his best friend.

"And it's my apartment so I'm not going anywhere." Nathan said crossing his arms.

"So, find a good spot, 'cause it's gonna be a long night." Brooke said.

"Who wants coffee?"

* * *

There it was... Anyone who knows me even a bit knows that I would NEVER write a story about getting raped or let someone get raped in my story. I think it's absolutely the worst thing that can happen to a person and I would never put a character through that even though that's what they only are, a character.

So, thoughts about the chapter?


	8. Chapter 7

Hey everyone I'm back with chapter seven. Thank you all so much for the reviews, please keep them coming. :) Anyways, hope you enjoy the next chapter. :)

* * *

Chapter 7 

Nathan, Brooke, Lucas, Peyton and Jake spend the rest of the night drinking coffee and hanging out in the small bedroom.

Early on Jake and Peyton got a few pillows and went to sit against the wall leaning on each other. Halfway through the night, they both fell asleep.

Lucas and Brooke snuggled up in one of the armchairs they had gotten from the living room and stayed awake almost the whole night.

By 7 am only Nathan was awake. He was still sitting on a chair close to Haley leaning on his knees with his elbows. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her. So many thoughts were running through his head.

He knew the first time he saw her that she was beautiful, gorgeous even. And the constant bickering just made her look sexier in his eyes. He had never even given a second to the thought that maybe their friends were right about them. Maybe the line between love and hate was as thin as they had said. Or maybe there was no line in their case at all.

Nathan had never been so concerned about anyone before and looking at her sleeping body, just thinking what might've happened, got his blood boiling. Right there staring at her small, sleeping form and a bruised lip, he swore to find the person responsible and make him regret the day he was born.

Haley moved in her sleep, causing the blanket to move. Nathan quickly got up and pulled the blanket back wanting to keep her warm but also in some way to shield her from the outside world.

Still holding the blanket, he looked at her deeply and placed a strand of hair behind her ear. He stroked Haley's cheek lightly, just wanting to feel her soft skin on his fingers.

Haley's eyelids fluttered and she opened her eyes slowly. Nathan was surprised that the single action made her wake up.

The first thing she saw was a pair of worried blue eyes few inches from hers. For few seconds she stared at him with a small innocent smile. Then reality checked in and her face turned into confused one when she saw where she was and who else was in the room.

"What's going on?" she whispered. Nathan sighed softly, stroked her cheek with his thumb again and looked at her one more time before turning around to wake up Lucas.

"Hey Luke. She's awake." He whispered and shook Lucas a bit.

"What?" he mumbled. He turned to look at Haley who had her eyes open. He got up and woke up Brooke in the process.

"Haley, how do you feel?" Lucas asked worried.

"She's awake?" Brooke mumbled and woke up Jake and Peyton. Few seconds later they were all around the bed looking at Haley.

"Ok, will someone tell me what's going on?" Haley asked starting to get worried. "What the hell is going on?"

"What do you remember?" Brooke asked softly.

"I remember getting ready with you two..." she said looking at Peyton and Brooke. "...and Nathan taking us to a party and hanging out with you there."

"Do you remember dancing with us?" Brooke asked.

"And being mean to about 10 dumb, frat guys who tried to hit on you?" Peyton asked smiling.

"Yeah, I kinda remember." Haley said smiling a bit.

"Do you remember anything after that?" Brooke asked.

"Like getting a refill?" Peyton continued.

"No, not really. I kinda remember being in the kitchen but that's all." She said. Peyton and Brooke turned to look at each other.

"What the hell's going on?" Haley asked. Everyone looked somewhere else. Nobody wanted to be the one to break the news. And in the process break her heart.

"Look, guys. I'm not stupid. Something must've happened if I wake up in Nathan's bed without remembering anything and all of you around me."

"Haley, hon..." Brooke started.

"Just spit it out." Haley said.

"Someone roofied your drink last night, Hales." Lucas said with a broken voice. Haley turned to look at him in shock.

"What?" she asked with a pale face while sitting up.

"We lost you for 10 minutes and during that time someone had messed up with your drink and..." Peyton quieted down.

"And what?" Haley asked her voice high.

"And taken you to the basement." Brooke said quietly. Haley slumped back on the bed and stared at the group without saying anything.

"Did he… umh, did he-?" she started but got cut off by Brooke.

"We got there before anything happened." Brooke said.

"We found you passed out on the couch. The back door was open and he was gone." Peyton said.

"So, he didn't..." Haley whispered.

"No, we got there on time." Peyton said.

"We called Luke. He, Nathan and Jake came to pick us up." Brooke finished. Haley still looked worried and Brooke continued.

"We called the poisoning information center and they said that you might not remember all but as long as you take these few days easy and drink lots of water, you'll be fine." Brooke said. Haley nodded her head a bit.

She stayed quiet for the longest time going through everything in her head, analysing every little detail like she always did, until she broke the heavy silence in the room.

"Thanks to everyone for taking care of me. Now guys if you excuse me, I'd like to talk to Peyton and Brooke alone." She said looking at the guys.

"What, why?" Lucas asked confused. He didn't want to leave Haley's side.

"Just for few minutes, Luke." Haley said. Lucas, Jake and Nathan left. Haley turned to look at the two tired girls.

"I need you to be honest with me." Haley said looking at them seriously.

"Yeah, of course."

"What was I wearing when you found me?" she asked. She needed to know in which condition she was when they found her.

"Haley-" Brooke started.

"I need to know." she said with a pleading voice.

"You were shirtless but you still had your bra on." Peyton said.

"Bra, good." Haley said. "And what about my pants?"

"You had your jeans on…" Brooke started in a quiet voice.

"But?" Haley asked sensing there was one.

"But they were unzipped." Peyton said quietly.

"But I was still wearing them?" Haley wanted to be sure.

"Yeah, he hadn't taken them off." Brooke assured.

"He could've just put them back on. How can you be sure?" Haley asked.

"He left in a hurry because he forgot his shirt there. I doubt he would've bothered to put your jeans on. Besides, you were gone for like 15 minutes tops." Brooke explained.

"Makes sense." Haley said. "Thanks for saving me, girls." she said and took their hands into hers.

"_Can we come in!_" Lucas yelled behind the door.

"Yeah, come on i-." Haley said. Before she could even finish, the guys were back in the room. Everyone looked at Haley not saying anything.

"So..." Haley started. The silence was killing her. "Who wants to play poker?" she asked forcing a smile. She wanted to change the topic quickly.

"I'll get the cards." Nathan said leaving to get the deck of cards.

"I'll get the chips." Lucas said.

"I'll get you your water." Jake said.

"And we'll look pretty next to you." Brooke said pointing at her and Peyton while grinning.

* * *

"Fold." Nathan said and threw his cards in front of him. 

"Yay, I win." Haley said happily while gathering the chips to her lap. She was doing her best to keep herself occupied so she didn't have to think about the previous night.

"My deal." Brooke said and dealt the cards. Jake and Peyton were cooking in the kitchen while the rest were around Haley's bed playing Texas Hold Em'.

"So, you have a pretty big game on Monday? Raise to 10." Haley said and placed the chips.

"Yeah... Call." Lucas said.

"We gotta win every game from now on to continue the season. Call." Nathan said.

"Yes, I understand how the concept works. I am the manager after all." Haley said and smirked a little to show that she wasn't being sarcastic or bitchy.

"Anyways, we're playing against Verona." Nathan said and called.

"They're pretty good, right?" Haley asked.

"Yeah, they're good. _Very_ good." Nathan said.

"You play at home?" Haley asked.

"No, it's their home game. But it's not too far away so you won't have to stand the team in the bus for too long." Nathan said with a smile. Lucas coughed and glared at Nathan.

"Or you could stay here and get better." Nathan said quickly. Haley rolled her eyes at Lucas.

"I'm perfectly fine, Lucas." Haley said forcing a smile. "I'll raise again." She said.

"Fold." Lucas said and threw his cards on the table.

"Me too." Nathan said and threw them quickly away. Haley looked at them suspiciously.

"You've both folded the past 3 times. In fact, I don't think I've lost a game since we started." She said.

"Good luck?" Nathan suggested. Haley narrowed her eyes in suspicion and quickly turned Nathan's cards around. Nathan looked uncomfortably at the two aces. Haley huffed annoyed.

"Two aces! Now, why would you fold with two aces?" Haley asked sarcastically. "You're both letting me win!" she said.

"You're in trouble." Brooke sing songed to herself while shuffling the cards with a smirk.

"Hales, we want you to take it easy and have fun. There's no point in getting you worked up. You know how you get when you're losing." Lucas said.

"What's the point of playing if you let me win?" she asked pouting. Lucas threw his arm around her.

"Hales, we all know you love winning. So just today, thee shall win every game thee play." He said smiling. Haley looked at him with a small smile.

"Even Monopoly?" she asked with a small smile.

"Even Monopoly." He said smiling.

"Even basketball?" she asked.

"Haley, honey. You will _never_ win at basketball." Lucas said and dodged before she could hit him. "Kidding, kidding." Lucas said and held up his hands in surrender.

"I'm not that bad at basketball." Haley muttered.

"Of course not, honey." Brooke said. "Your free throws are awesome." She continued trying not to burst out laughing.

"Hey! Granny style is perfectly fine!" she defended herself while Nathan started to laugh.

"Of course it is, honey." Brooke said and looked at her carefully. Even though they were joking and having fun, Brooke couldn't help but feel guilty for what had happened to her.

"Food!" Jake yelled from the kitchen. Haley clapped her hands enthusiastically, threw the covers to the side and started to get up from the bed. Nathan and Lucas immediately pushed her back.

"What are you doing?" Lucas asked panicking.

"Getting some food." Haley said.

"You're not getting up." Nathan said like it was the most obvious thing. Haley turned to look at Brooke for back up but she just shrugged her shoulders.

"It's 3 pm and I haven't even gotten out of bed yet."

"And that's the way it should stay." Lucas said.

"I can get up from the bed, Lucas." Haley said annoyed.

"You have to take it easy for couple of days." Nathan said.

"I'm just going to get something to eat, it's not rock climbing." She said annoyed and got up from the bed ignoring the brothers' complains. She got on her legs and started to stretch her legs. She had been lying for so long that her legs were practically numb.

She lifted her left knee against her chest slowly and then did the same to the right one. Nathan swallowed when the movement made Haley's ass look exceptionally good.

Lucas followed Nathan's gaze and turned to glare at Nathan when he saw what he was looking at. Lucas coughed lightly and Nathan turned to look at him with that deer-in-headlights look. Nathan quickly swallowed again and took a hold of Haley's arm.

"Yeah, let's go to eat." He said and started to drag her towards the door.

"What? But I wasn't done with stretching yet." Haley said. Nathan just mumbled something about the food getting cold. Brooke turned to look at Lucas with a grin when they were out of the room.

"What?" he asked a bit annoyed.

"I'm so winning that bet." She said grinning. Lucas rolled his eyes and left the room with Brooke.

* * *

"Here's more water for you." Lucas said handing Haley a glass of water. 

"Lucas, this is the 9th glass in the past 2 hours. If I drink any more, I'll grow a pair of fins and you can just call me Nemo. And then I will slap you so hard that _you_ are the one trying to find home." Haley said annoyed. It was about 6 pm and they were all hanging out in the living room.

"You're supposed to drink lots of water."

"And I have. Now, if you don't take that glass out of my face in three seconds I will not only throw the water but also the glass at you, got it?" she asked sweetly. Lucas took the glass to the kitchen without saying anything.

"Thank you." Haley said.

"Hales, I'm just trying to look after you." Lucas said.

"I know and I thank you but please don't treat me like a kid." Haley said. "I can get my own goddamn water!"

"Ok, ok, just calm down." Lucas said.

"I will if you stop bringing me water and treating me like I'm 6 months old!" she said annoyed. "Now get your ass here on the couch and try and beat me in NBA Live 2006." She said smiling a bit. Lucas smiled and sat down next to Haley. Peyton handed him the controller.

"And don't even think about losing on purpose." Haley said.

"Of course not." Lucas said with an innocent voice right when he 'accidentally' shot the ball through his own basket.

"Because if you do, I'll tell everyone your middle name." Haley said sweetly. Lucas paused the game and turned to look at her.

"You wouldn't!" he said.

"What's his middle name?" Nathan asked curiously. Lucas and Haley were still staring at each other.

"Don't you dare." Lucas said.

"Just say it." Nathan said. Haley and Lucas both ignored him.

"It's up to you, Luke. Bring your best game or everyone will know it." she said. "It starts with E." She said when Lucas didn't say anything.

"Fine! Prepare to lose, you lil' witch." He said with a small smile.

"That's my boy." She said smiling and they continued the game.

"Wait, I wanna know the name." Nathan said and turned to look at Brooke. When she didn't say anything Nathan waved his hand in front of her face. She finally snapped out of her daze and looked at him.

"Sorry, what was that?" she asked confused. Haley turned to look at her.

"Do you know Lucas' middle name?" Nathan asked.

"What?" Brooke asked confused.

"Do you know Lucas' middle name?"

"No, I don't." She said slowly while looking outside the window. Haley frowned and handed the controller to Nathan.

"Play for me for a while." She said without taking her eyes off of Brooke. "Can I talk to you for a second, Brooke?" she said.

"Sure." She said and got up. Haley nodded her head at Peyton to signal her to follow them. They went in Nathan's bedroom. Haley closed the door when Peyton and Brooke were inside.

"What's wrong?" Brooke asked.

"You wanna tell me?" Haley asked. "You've been acting strange all day. You've been more quiet than normally and don't think I don't see you staring at me from time to time. Something's bothering you and I wanna know what."

"I'm just a bit tired." Brooke said weakly.

"Yeah I bet but that's not all, is it?" Haley asked.

"I've just been so concerned about you." Brooke said trying to swallow back her tears.

"I'm fine. Thanks to you I'm ok." She said. Brooke looked at her with desperate eyes.

"Thanks to me you got roofied!" she cried. Haley took a firm hold of her shoulders.

"No! That was not your fault!"

"I feel so guilty, Hales. I made you go to that stupid party! I made you wear that top! I promised to look after you and I didn't! This is all my fault!"

"Zip it, B. Davis. And P. Sawyer, ears open. Now I want you both to listen to me carefully because I'm only gonna say this once." Haley started.

"I went to that party because I wanted to go. I wore that top because I wanted to. You didn't force me to do anything, Brooke. And you both should know that it doesn't matter what any of us wears, we still look hot." She said and got a smile out of them both.

"I could've worn Nathan's sweats and the asshole still might've done that. I don't want to hear any apologies from either of you because you didn't do anything wrong. _Au contraire_, you saved me. Without you he would've raped me." Haley said looking at the two.

"Now I'm gonna thank you for saving me and I want you both to say 'you're welcome'. And that's the last we will talk about this."

"But-"

"No buts." Haley said and looked at the two intensively. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." They both said. There was a short silence.

"Hales, it's okay to feel upset about the whole thing. I mean, you almost got... you know." Brooke said and Haley swallowed at the thought of what might have happened. She forced a smile before starting to talk again.

"I'm fine, Brooke. Nothing happened. I'm perfect." She assured herself more than them.

"But-"

"Issue closed." She said slowly looking at them seriously.

"Do you think you're taking this a bit too lightly?" Peyton asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" she asked even though she knew what she meant.

"It's like it doesn't bother you at all. You don't have to pretend that everything is alright, Hales. We're here for you." Brooke said. Haley forced a smile.

"I just don't think I should spend any time wallowing." She said. "Now, let's forget this and get back there." She said linking arms with both of the girls and starting to drag them back to the living room.

"Luke, you ready for round 2?" Haley asked cheerfully while running towards the couch. She took the controller from Nathan and started to play. Brooke looked at Peyton with a worried look. They knew that Haley wasn't fine with what had happened.

"Oh, and another 3-pointer!" Lucas celebrated.

"I think I liked you better when you let me win."

* * *

"So, are you sure you will be fine?" Lucas asked from Haley. It was almost 10 pm and him, Brooke, Jake and Peyton were starting to leave. 

"What did I answer the first six times?" Haley asked her hands on her hips.

"Yes." Lucas answered sheepishly.

"Correct. And what did I threaten to do if you asked me one more time?"

"To find a fucking baseball bat, swing it at my head before breaking it in half and feeding the pieces to me." Lucas quoted Haley who was smirking.

"And what did I do when you asked me again?" she asked bored.

"You started to get Nathan's baseball bat but he got to it first." He said.

"Again, correct." She said and paused to glare at Nathan who was still protecting the bat. Lucas also looked at him and mouthed 'thank you' to him. Nathan nodded his head at him with a smirk. Haley saw Nathan giving him the look and turned to quickly glare at Lucas.

"So, taking this all into consideration, I'd advise you to _really_ think if you want to ask me that question again." She said with a small smile.

"I'm just-" he started.

"Looking after me, I know." Haley finished. "I'm fine, Lucas. I'm great so please don't worry cause you're driving me nuts." She said forcing a smile. Physically she might've been fine but emotionally she was far away from it. Lucas sighed and hugged her.

"Alright, just take it easy and call me if you need anything." He mumbled.

"Yep." Haley said and patted Lucas on the back while hugging him. "I'm fine, Lucas. It's all good." She said reassuringly.

"Try to get some sleep." Lucas said and turned to look at Nathan. He gave him a take-care-of her-look and Nathan nodded in understanding.

"Alright, we're gonna go now." Brooke said smiling and looked at Haley with a worried look.

"Please do." Haley said and winked to let her know she was fine. "Bye everyone." She said and closed the door. "Finally!" she said leaning on the door.

"Couldn't wait to get rid of them?" Nathan asked starting to clean the table.

"I love Lucas to death but god! I can take care of myself." She said.

"You're his best friend. It's only natural for him to look after you." Nathan said.

"Yeah, I guess. I just hope he would take it down a notch." Haley muttered and started to clean the dishes.

"So, you wanna watch a movie or play PlayStation or something?" Nathan asked after a while and took a clean plate from Haley and dried it. Haley looked at him surprised while rubbing the sponge on a dirty plate.

"Wow, must be a record." She said smirking and started to count with her fingers. "You didn't insult me, you didn't tell me to clean your shit or cook something and you actually smiled." She ended with a grin.

"What can I say? I guess I'm in a good mood." He said smirking while drying the last plate.

"Alright, let's see what you've got." She said, dried her hands and walked up to his DVD collection. She knelt down on the floor.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap..." she muttered while looking at the DVD's. "You watch crappy movies, Scott." Haley said smirking.

"Crappy?" Nathan asked and knelt down next to her. "Scarface is not crappy. Godfather is not crappy." He said.

"I've never seen Godfather." Haley said. Nathan dropped the remote control that he had just picked up from the floor.

"You're kidding." He said looking at her with his mouth open a bit.

"Nope."

"We're so watching it. I love Godfather." He said. "How can you have _not_ seen it?" he wondered out loud. "Figures that you're more of a 'Bring it on' and 'Legally Blonde' type of girl." He said smirking.

"Yes, because I _am_ a typical high school cheerleader." She said sarcastically. "In case you haven't realized from my 4.0 GPA, the fact that I'm a tutor and that I'm ranked first in my class; I'm a geek."

"Ok, geek. Maybe 'Bring it on' isn't your type of movie. So, what kind of movies do you like?" He asked.

"Actually, I love 'Bring it on', but you know…" She said putting the DVD in the player with a small smile.

"Here we go." Nathan said using the remote control to start the movie.

"Oh, is that Marlon Brando?" Haley said snuggling on the couch while watching the movie. "He is so cool." She said. "Oh, and what a badass!"

"Do you always talk when you watch a movie?" Nathan asked smiling.

"Sorry, I'll try to be quiet." She said.

"No, I didn't mean it like that. It's kinda cute." He said. They both fell quiet at the word 'cute'. It was a whole different thing for Nathan to not insult her, but now he was actually complimenting her.

The silence was broken soon by Haley.

"Is that a horse's head?"

* * *

So, any thoughts about the chapter? 


	9. Chapter 8

Hey, everyone. Thanks for all the wonderful reviews, please keep them coming. :) Here's chapter 8, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 8

"How about 'Save the Last Dance'?"

"Do I look gay?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"Please don't. What about 'Lord of War'?"

"I don't like Cage. 'Just Like Heaven'?"

"A chick flick? Think again." Nathan said.

It was finally Sunday night. The previous night they had started to watch 'the Godfather' and had fallen asleep on the couch. At 9 am Sunday morning they woke with his arm around her shoulder and her head leaning against his shoulder. Surprisingly, they both acted normally around each other. None of that weird, uncomfortable vibe they had had the day after the lap dance incident.

For the most of Sunday Haley and Nathan had just hung out watching MTV reruns of the Real World. After 8 episodes and agreeing that Svetlana was a spoiled little brat, they decided to rent a movie. And that's where they were now, in a video rental store trying to come to an understanding. Of course, they could've just rented two movies but they both enjoyed their bickering way too much to suggest that.

"How about the new Harry Potter?" Haley asked.

"I haven't seen the previous ones."

"What? You haven't seen any Harry Potter movies?"

"Nope."

"But you've read the books?"

"Nope."

"That's it. We're renting all four Potter movies."

"Think again, _James_." Nathan said.

"I can't believe you haven't seen any Potter movies, _Scott_."

"Well I can't believe you hadn't seen any of the Godfather movies."

"I have now."

"Whatever. What about 'History of Violence'?"

"No!" she said frustrated.

"Argh, we're never gonna find one both will like." Nathan said annoyed.

"I just want some romance in it. Some love." She whined.

"And I just want some basketball." He said. Nathan's eyes stopped and he picked up a movie from the shelf. "Love and Basketball?" Nathan asked holding the cover of the movie with a smirk.

"Where did you find that?" she asked not believing their luck.

"It was right there." He said excited. "We're renting this, right?"

"Hell yeah!"

* * *

"That was a crappy movie." 

"No, it wasn't. It was a cute movie."

"Not nearly enough basketball." He complained.

"Get over it." she said smirking and got up from the couch. She took the empty pop corn bowl and washed it quickly. She then took her books out and set them on the kitchen counter.

"You're doing your homework?"

"I'm a geek, remember." She said smirking. Nathan looked at her for few seconds.

"Oh what the hell." He said and took his books out too and sat opposite from Haley. "Might as well shock the teachers." Haley looked at him with a smile for a second before going back to math calculations.

They worked in silence for few minutes. Nathan's annoyed grunts broke Haley out of her concentration.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing." He said without taking his eyes out of the book. Haley shrugged her shoulders and went back to her homework.

Few minutes later Nathan groaned again and was about to throw the book across the room but Haley set her hand on top of his to stop him. The feel of his hand under her small one, made her forget everything she was about to say.

She stared at him her mouth open a bit without saying a word. Her mind was having a battle inside her head. _God Haley, snap out of it! Say something and stop holding his hand! He thinks you're an idiot. See, he's already staring at you like you're crazy. God Haley!_

Sure, Nathan was staring at her but not because he thought she was crazy. Quite the opposite, actually.

Nathan stared at Haley without saying anything. He was beyond shocked that any girl could cause him that kind of feeling. That tingling feeling in the pit of his stomach that he had only read about. _God, could you be more of a pussy? Get a grip, Scott! She's just touching your hand. It's not like it's traveling down your chest slowly until it reaches the hem of your boxers. And it's not like it's still going lower, inside the boxers until it's starting to stroke your- Oh god, snap out of it, loser!_

Almost at the same time they snapped out of their thoughts and fantasies. Haley quickly drew her hand back like it had burned. Nathan set the book quickly down and coughed uncomfortably. Neither of them had no idea why they were acting like that. Just last Thursday she had given him a lap dance and now a simple touch was driving them crazy and over the edge.

"What's wrong?" Haley finally got the words out of her mouth. Nathan had to use all of his concentration on trying to understand why she asked that. He then remembered his annoyance with his homework and quickly became irritated again.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. Just been reminded yet again that basketball is my only option in getting a decent future." Nathan said and shut the book annoyed.

"Let me see that." Haley said pointing at the paper where Nathan had tried to do his math calculations. He gave the paper to her a bit embarrassed. He was sure she was going to laugh when she noticed all of his mistakes. Haley examined it for few seconds and then looked at him.

"You forgot to divide this part." She said quietly and gave the paper back to him. Nathan looked at the paper, then opened his book and looked at it before turning back to look at her.

He took his pencil and made the corrections and then turned to look at Haley.

"Did you get 42?" he asked quietly. Haley flipped few pages back and checked her answer.

"Yeah, I did." She said smiling. Nathan smiled to himself and started to work on the next exercise.

* * *

"What did you get for number 7?" 

"85,3."

"Really? Me too! I'm smart!" Nathan said and cheered.

"Sorry to break this to you, but that's pretty basic stuff. We still have a long way ahead if we want you to get a better grade."

"We?" Nathan asked smirking.

"Well, since I'm living here for another week and I am a tutor, I might as well tutor you." She said.

"I'd like that." He said and looked at Haley. They stared at each other for few seconds not saying anything. Haley blinked before she started to get the same thoughts of him in her head. She looked at the clock on the wall.

"Oh, look at the time. We should get to bed if we want to get up early." She said.

"You can have the bed. I'll sleep on the couch." Nathan said. First Haley looked happy and excited but then her smiled faded and it turned into a scowl.

"No thanks, the couch is fine." She said coldly.

"What?" he asked confused.

"The couch is fine." She said not looking at him.

"Sorry for trying to help." Nathan said holding his hands up in defence.

Nathan walked into his room still confused why she didn't want to sleep there. _It's not like she hasn't slept here before_, he thought remembering her sleeping there the night after the party. He took his shirt and sweats off and went to lie on his bed wearing only boxers.

* * *

_She was mixing her drink in the kitchen of the dirty frat house. Rum and coke. The loud noise from the speakers in the living room blocked any other sound. She turned around to put the rum bottle away. She then turned back and took a sip from the drink ignoring the fact that the blonde guy she had just greeted was standing abnormally close to her drink._

_She took another sip and quickly became dizzy. Suddenly she was being escorted to the basement by the same blonde guy._

_Soon she was lying on the couch trying to get away but her body wasn't responding to her efforts. Her whole body felt like it weighed thousand pounds and her thoughts were incoherent. All she knew was that she needed to get away, fast._

At 3 am, Nathan woke up when he heard muffled sounds coming from the living room. He opened his eyes and tried to listen what the noises were but they were too faint and distant. He got up and walked slowly towards his door.

Soon he realized the noises were coming from the living room, from the couch. He walked towards her and sighed when he saw that she was having a nightmare.

She was fidgeting and mumbling something under her breath. Even though it was almost pitch black he could tell that she had a painful look on her face. He kneeled down in front of her, took a hold of her shoulders and started to shake her lightly.

"Hey, wake up." He whispered but Haley didn't respond. She was still turning in her sleep.

"No, no, don't." She mumbled under her breath while twisting and turning. Nathan shook her a bit harder.

"Wake up, it's just a nightmare." Haley started to turn in her sleep even more and her mumblings got loader.

Suddenly she opened her eyes, sat up quickly and started to scream and hit him as hard as she could.

"No, don't! Stop! Get off me!" Nathan took a hold of her wrists forcing her to look at him.

"Hey, it's me. Calm down, it's just a dream." He said. "It's Nathan, calm down. You're safe." He said over and over until she started to calm down.

"Nate?" she asked her body still shaking from the dream. Her eyes were big and scared. She had sweat drops on her forehead and tears in her eyes.

"Yeah, it's me. You were having a nightmare." As soon as she realized it was Nathan in front of her instead him, she flung herself towards him and hugged him fiercely while trying to muffle her sobs. He instantly wrapped his arms around her waist and tried to calm her down.

"It's ok. It was just nightmare, Hales." He whispered when she was still shaking few minutes later.

"A nightmare." She said finally understanding that she wasn't sleeping anymore and that she was safe. She slowly unwrapped her hands that were tightly around his neck. She leaned back on her pillow and stretched her legs to their full length on the couch, which wasn't much, as Nathan noticed smiling a bit.

"You ok?" he asked turning to look at her concerned.

"Yeah." She whispered.

"Was the nightmare about...?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah." She said. Nathan sighed and stood up. Haley looked at him confused, even worried that he was leaving. But he wasn't planning on leaving. He lifted her short legs, sat down on the couch and placed the legs on his lap.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked softly drawing soothing circles on her legs without even realizing that he was doing it. Haley looked at him and shook her head in denial while trying to swallow back her tears that were dangerously close to falling down her cheeks. Brooke and Peyton were right, Haley thought, she was nowhere near being ok with what happened to her.

"Want me to call Luke?" he asked. Haley shook her head in denial without saying anything.

"He would like to be here for you." Nathan said. He knew that Lucas would do anything for her.

"I know." She said quietly. "I just don't want to worry him." She said and then suddenly thought of something.

"What is it?" he asked when he noticed the change in her.

"It's just that... The nightmare made me remember a bit more about... that night." She said.

"What do you remember? Do you remember who he was?" he asked in a tight voice. He had sworn the moment he saw her lying on that couch to find the guy who did that and break his neck.

"The whole thing is kind of a blur. I remember the kitchen, the basement..." She said trying to go back to her dream.

"You remember what he looked like?" Nathan asked hopefully.

"His face was blurred but I think he had blonde hair. I think he had a tattoo or something on his chest... At least in my dream he has. The whole thing felt really odd and off and I can't quite place why. I don't know, it was all very blurry... I guess my subconscious is trying to block it out." She said.

"Hey, don't worry about it. We'll get the bastard." He said.

"Thanks..." she said smiling weakly. "And I'm so sorry for waking you up. I know you have a big game tomorrow, well actually today, and you must need all the sleep you can get." She said feeling guilty.

"Hey, don't worry about that. That's the least of my worries." He said looking at her intently.

"You're playing against Verona, right?" she asked wanting to change the subject.

"Yeah, they're pretty good so it's gonna be a tough game." He said rubbing his neck.

"You're gonna be great, don't worry." She said with a smile.

"Thanks." He said sincerely. There was a short silence which Nathan spent studying her face while she was looking down at her hands.

He couldn't believe he hadn't noticed how beautiful she looked with her hair up in a messy bun, wearing those cute pyjama pants and that top. Although when he looked at the tight baby blue top on her, 'cute' was not the word that came to his head first.

Nathan snapped back to reality when Haley turned to look at him with a cocky smirk. She had totally caught him checking her out.

"Were you just looking at my boobs?" she asked.

"What? No! Of course not! Not that there's anything wrong with them." he added quickly with a smirk. "Miss Black Lace." He said under his breath knowing that she could hear him.

"Shut up." She said but couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips. Nathan mentally patted himself in the back for getting her to smile.

"You know, you may not be as awful as I thought you were." Haley said suddenly while playing with the hem of her shirt. Nathan let out a smug grin.

"Oh, is that so?"

"I said maybe." She said laughing.

"Well, I'm glad you think so. And you may not be as big of a bitch as I thought you were." He said with a smile.

"Thank you." She said still smiling.

Nathan stared at her smiling face for a second.

"I know that you've got Luke and Brooke and Peyton... But I'm here for you too, just so you know." He said seriously. Haley smiled at him and reached to give his hand a small squeeze.

"I know." She said. "Thank you for that." She said letting her hand stay on his.

_There is it again_, Nathan thought. _Don't get all girly now. Stay focused. Ask something! Say something! Fart if nothing else!... Ok, don't fart. Just open your mouth, you girl._

"So, I've been thinking." Nathan started.

"Oh uh." Haley said laughing.

"Funny." He said smirking but then his smile faded a bit. "I know why you didn't want to sleep in my bed." Haley immediately looked down with a serious face.

"Oh, yeah?"

"You think I feel sorry for you, that I pity you. You think that's why I offered the bed." He said.

"Well, isn't that true?" she asked quietly.

"No, I mean yes, I feel bad and yes, I would change what happened if I could. But no, that's not the reason."

"What is then?" she asked almost scared to hear the answer.

"This past week with you has been..." Nathan searched for a right word.

"Hell? Insane? An absolute pain in the behind?" Haley offered with a smile.

"Different." Nathan said with a smile. "Ever since I moved out of San Quentin, I-"

"From _where_?"

"My dad's house."

"Oh, ok."

"Anyways, ever since I finally got to move out, I never expected to actually enjoy living with someone. Especially someone who manages to drive me nuts faster than anyone else." He said with a smile.

"What can I say? I have a talent." She said breathing warm air on her nails and then rubbing them against her collar bone as if being proud.

"Yes, you do." He said laughing at the expression. "But you've gotta know that I've totally changed my mind about you during this week."

"You're just saying that 'cause you don't wanna be mean 'cause Lucas would kick your ass if you were."

"No, that's not the reason. Besides, he could never kick my ass." He said with a smirk but then got serious. "You remember me being nicer even before the party, right?"

"How were you nicer?" she asked intrigued.

"I gave you the night off, remember." He said and then grinned. "And I commented on your boobs." Haley looked at the floor blushing when she remembered the bra incident.Hal

"Yeah, thanks." She mumbled trying to hide her blush.

"Hey, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Breasts are a very beautiful thing and every woman should be proud of them." He said with a serious face patting her on the shoulder. He got a big smirk when he saw her blush even more.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, Haley. You have awesome boobs and-"

"Let's not talk about my boobs anymore, ok?" she said cutting him off with an embarrassed voice.

"Yeah, sure. No talking. I'll much rather watch them anyways." He said with a grin and raised his hands in front of his face to defend himself from the attacks coming from her way.

"Pig." She said after getting a few good hits his way. She smiled a little though. "Thanks for being nice."

"No problem. It would be kinda heartless to not be nice to you now." He said and watched in confusion as Haley's smile fell again. _Damn that girl has mood swings,_ Nathan thought.

"You don't have to be nice just because you feel that you have to. I don't want people to see me as some poor little girl." She said leaning further away from him.

"What are you talking about? I don't feel forced." He said defending himself. "I'm just trying to help."

"I don't need that!" Haley said frustrated. She could feel the tears starting to well up again.

She loved that Nathan was being nice and she wanted nothing more than for that to stay that way but she couldn't help but fear that as soon as things went back to normal, he would go back to being an ass. And it was something she wouldn't be able to handle so she didn't want him to be nice at all, if he wouldn't always be.

"What do you need then? You've been bitching and moaning for months how mean I am and now when I'm trying to make an effort, you say you don't need that. So, what do you need, James?" he asked frustrated and Haley responded with an equally emotional voice. The tears were now very close.

It was amazing to both of them how quickly they were able to go from being nice and sweet to hurt and upset.

"What do I want? I want things to go back to the way they were! I need to forget about everything and I can't if everyone keeps acting different around me! I need to go back to normal!" she said with tears in her eyes.

"You can't just try to convince yourself that nothing happened." Nathan said finally understanding her motives. "It doesn't work that way."

"Well, how does it work then?" she asked swallowing the lump from her throat.

"You need to deal with the pain and everything. It won't just go away." He said softly.

"I just-" she started with an even shakier voice. "I just feel like if I let myself do that, I'm gonna completely break down." She whispered the last words.

"Well, that's what your friends are for. To help you get through that. You're not supposed to do it alone." He said. Haley listened to him carefully and quickly wiped her eyes.

"I just don't know if I'm strong enough." She whispered and this time didn't wipe the tear that fell down her cheek.

Nathan felt his heart drop when he saw the tear. He wanted nothing more than to hold her and not let go. He couldn't understand how anyone could've done what they did to her.

"Hey, come here." He said quietly and took a hold of her hips. He carefully pulled her closer so she was sitting on his lap. Haley wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head on the crook of his neck while trying her best not to fall completely apart but couldn't help the small sobs that escaped her throat every now and then. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, stroking her hair silently, mumbling soothing words.

* * *

Haley woke up the next morning to find herself lying fully on top of Nathan. She was lying on top of his chest, her head resting on his shoulder so close to his head that her lips were almost touching his cheek while enjoying the fact that Nathan's arms were still around her waist. 

She opened her eyes and for few seconds just took in the wonderful, new feeling. The feeling of being safe and peaceful. She snuggled her nose on his neck inhaling his scent. The action made Nathan mumble something in his sleep and tighten his hold around her waist.

After few blissful minutes Haley leaned back a bit to look at Nathan's face. The movement made him mumble something again and slowly open his eyes. He stared at the brown pair of eyes in front of him.

"Hey." She said with a small smile.

"Hey." He said still keeping his hands wrapped around her.

Suddenly Haley's happy, peaceful look changed into a panicked one.

"Oh my god! What time is it!" she yelled and stood up quickly. Haley looked at the clock on the VCR and shrieked.

"7.55! School starts in 15 minutes!" she yelled in shock. "We overslepped!" she yelled not really understanding the sentence. Haley James _never_ overslepped. It was like a cosmic law, it just didn't happen.

"Shit!" he yelled while getting up.

"I need to take a shower, eat, make our lunches, go through my homework, coffee. Oh my god, I need my coffee!" Haley said panicking while looking around not knowing where to start. "I need something to wear and where the hell are my books-"

"Hey, James!" Nathan said taking a hold of her shoulders. "Calm down." She stopped running and looked at him. "Forget about the lunch, we'll buy some. There's no time for a shower or a coffee so forget about those too. And what comes to checking your homework, don't bother. They're always correct. So just change your clothes and get your books!" he said sternly.

"We're never gonna make it on time! It takes like 15 minutes to drive to school." Haley said.

"I can speed." He said. Haley's face changed from panicked to stern.

"You're right, Scott. We're not gonna be late. Haley James has never been late in her life and she's not gonna start today. So get your shit together, we're leaving in 60 seconds. We're so not gonna be late." She said and started to get her books.

"Roger that, ma'am." He said saluting her with a laugh and started to run around the room to get his stuff. Haley turned around and grabbed her clothes. First pair of jeans, a shirt and a bra... She gathered them in her arms and headed towards the bathroom to change but noticed that it was occupied by Nathan.

"No time." She mumbled and turned around so her back was towards the bathroom and quickly stripped down to her underwear. Right after buttoning her jeans, Nathan came out of the bathroom.

"Ok, I'm rea-" he almost choked when he saw her naked back. She quickly put her bra on, twisted her hands on her back and clasped it.

"Ok, good. I'm almost done." She said and turned around to look at him. Nathan gulped when he saw that she was wearing the hot, black bra.

And suddenly his head was filled with a new fantasy. For the past few days it had been Haley straddling him and giving him a lap dance. Now the fantasy was slightly adjusted. A _shirtless_ Haley giving him a lap dance

"What are you-" she started but then looked down and realized what he was looking at. Haley sighed annoyed and snapped her fingers a few times to get Nathan's attention. He blinked and looked at her with an embarrassed face.

"Hey, eyes up here buddy." She said annoyed and pointed her index and middle finger between her and Nathan's eyes.

"Yeah, sorry about that." Nathan mumbled while coughing embarrassedly.

"You got your basketball stuff? You have the game at 5, right?" she asked while quickly putting a shirt on.

"Yeah." He said with a hint of disappointment in his voice.

"Vamos!"

* * *

"Faster, Scott!" 

"Hey! I have my basketball stuff, my school bag and _your_ school bag which reminds me that you should tell your geography teacher-"

"I don't take geography."

"-tell your geography teacher that it's really not fair that you have to carry ROCKS TO SCHOOL! I mean, Jesus Christ how many books do you have!"

"Stop bitching, Linda. We only have a minute left." She said with a smile.

"Hey, I thought you had forgotten about the whole calling me girls' names." He pouted.

"Oh, get over it, Scott."

"Much better." He said with a smile that made Haley roll her eyes laughing.

She quickly opened the front door of the school and held it open for him. They ran the empty hallways as fast as they could towards their math class. They jumped inside the room right when the bell stopped ringing.

"Yeah!" they yelled at the same time between catching their breaths. The teacher turned to look at them annoyed.

"Mr. Scott, Ms. James." They high fived each other while leaning their palms on their knees to catch their breaths when Brooke and the rest of the class stared at them with an interest.

"Please take your seats."

Nathan grabbed their bags and they both headed towards the two empty seats that were in the back of the class. Nathan took the one close to the wall so Haley could sit between him and Brooke.

"Told you we wouldn't be late." Haley whispered to Nathan who just smirked back. Brooke looked at the two with a wide grin until Haley saw her.

"Why are you smiling?" Haley asked.

"No reason." She said innocently.

"Okay..." Haley said. "God, I didn't have my morning coffee. This is the second Monday in a row." She paused and then turned to look at Brooke with a grin. "Hey, speaking of Mondays..."

"Oh yeah, you ready?" Brooke asked.

"Always."

"It's actually related to the topic."

"Nathan?"

"Actually, I meant the coffee but since you're already thinking about him, you can apply it to him too." She said with a wink.

"Just spit it out." Haley said but couldn't hide the blush.

"Ok, here we go: Men are like coffee. The best ones are hot, rich and can keep you up all night long."

"So true." Haley mumbled glancing at Nathan quickly. "So true, indeed."

* * *

So, that was chapter 8. Any thoughts? 


	10. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

"...Give me an N!"

"N!"

"Give me an S! What does it spell?"

"RAVENS!" the whole crowd roared excited. Brooke shook her pompoms proudly in the air cheering. It was Monday night and the Ravens were playing against Verona.

It was now half time and the Ravens were up by 2 points. Lucas' 3-pointer right at the last second had given them the needed points to get to the lead. The crowd was ecstatic and going crazy. It was high school basketball at its best.

"And here they come back! With less than a minute left, the Ravens team comes back to the court. And the roaring you hear from the background is coming from the Ravens fans! Even though it's their away game, a big percentage of the student body is here tonight! I'm Mouth McFadden and this is live from Verona high school where the Ravens lead 32-30. I'm sitting here next to the beautiful tutor and the manager of the varsity team, Haley James. Haley, what are your thoughts about the game?"

"What? No! Put that mike away, Mout- Wait, did you just say I'm beautiful? Wow! I mean yeah, Brooke did my hair and I'm wearing the good jeans but-"

"So, any thoughts about the _game_?" Mouth interrupted her with a smile.

"Uh, yeah! The game! It's awesome! Sucks you can't be hear. Haha!" She said to anyone listening.

"Thanks for those, umh, professional comments, Haley." He said and turned back to the court. "And the game is back on! Ladies and gentlemen, get ready!"

* * *

"And the game is over! Ladies and gentlemen or anyone who's listening! The Ravens have won 56-52! It was an exiting, eventful game with the Scott brothers once again playing like pros! Nathan Scott led with-" 

Mouth quickly looked at Haley's notes.

"-22 points while Lucas had 19. Overall, the Ravens played their best game tonight, for sure. Couch Durham can't have anything but positive to say about the whole team. The Ravens will play against Bear Creek on Wednesday. For now, let the party begin!"

"How great was that, Haley!" Mouth yelled excited to Haley when he finished his podcast.

"Yeah!" she yelled and high fived Mouth. She spotted Karen at the stands who was waving to Haley to come to her. Haley quickly finished writing her notes. "Hey, I'm gonna catch up with Karen."

"Alright, talk to you later."

"Bye, Mouth." She said and went to Karen's.

"Haley, hi!" Karen said hugging the girl warmly.

"Hey! How great was Lucas!" Haley said excited.

"They were all great! Very exciting game."

"Yeah, so who's taking care of the café when we're both here?" Haley asked laughing.

"I closed early. The whole town's here anyways." Karen said. "So, haven't seen you around lately. How's your roommate?" she asked with a wink.

"Nathan? He's good." Haley said smiling.

"I'm surprised you're both unbruised." Karen said.

"Well, there was that bra incident but-"

"The _what_ incident?"

"Never mind. Anyways, the place is finally peaceful. We've come to a sort of an understanding." She said with a smile.

"Good." Karen said and looked at Haley for few seconds. "Why don't we go sit over there." She said guiding them to sit in the last row of the bleachers away from the crowd.

"What's wrong?" Haley asked while sitting down.

"Lucas told me about what happened at the party last Friday." Karen said. Haley looked down at her feet for few seconds. "And I just want to say that I'm so sorry about what happened."

"Thanks, I appreciate it." she said smiling weakly.

"If you ever need a shoulder to cry or just someone to talk to, I'm here. Always. I know your parents are gone a lot and I'm sure you'd like to have your mother here-"

"Actually, it's better this way." Haley said quickly. "You know, she would just fuss about it and get worried and call the whole family and then they would all get here."

"Maybe that's not such a bad idea. In situations like this it's good to have family around." Karen said softly.

"It's just too much trouble. Tracking down Taylor is just too much work; Brian and Chris are settled at Duke; Quinn just got her new job and Vivian's too busy with the baby. Not to even mention that Matt just moved to LA. They can't just leave all that behind."

"Why don't you let them decide that?"

"No, I'm not gonna tell them." Haley said looking at Karen. "I just wanna forget about it, get over it and move on. It's just too much hassle if they all come here." She said.

"It's your decision and I trust you to make the right one." Karen said.

"Thank you."

"But like I said, if you ever need anything, I'm here. Your mom trusts me to look after you." She said.

"I know. Does she still call to check up on me every Wednesday?"

"8 pm sharp." Karen said smiling.

"That's so her." Haley said smiling. "It's quite funny, actually."

"Why?"

"Because right after she calls you, she calls me. Oh, you should've heard the conversation we had last Wednesday." Haley said smiling.

"About living with Nathan?" Karen asked.

"Yep, I think she actually used the word 'pre-marital sex' four times in one sentence."

"That's Lydia."

"And I could hear my dad yelling in the background. I can't be sure but I think he asked if he should send Nathan some condoms."

"And that's Jimmy. How did you convince them to not come back home? I would've expected them back by now."

"That's just them. They are pretty liberal when it comes to raising me. They trust me to make my own decisions, or mistakes. But yeah, I know what you mean. I'm still surprised I haven't seen their little RV parked in front of Nathan's." Haley said laughing with Karen.

"Oh, speaking of which." Karen said pointing at the locker room doors that had just opened and Nathan and Lucas had walked out to meet the ecstatic crowd.

"Don't they all look so handsome in those suits?" Karen asked. Haley's eyes were fixeted on Nathan who was high fiving some of the other players.

"Yes, they do." She said slowly while playing with her necklace and staring at Nathan. Karen turned to look at her with a knowing smile.

"I'm gonna go say hi to the players. Talk to you later, Karen." Haley said before leaving.

Karen smiled to herself and looked down to see the cheerleaders stretching on the floor. She walked up to them with a smile.

"Hey Brooke. Good cheering. You too, Peyton." She said smiling at the two girls.

"Thanks, Karen. Lucas played well today. I promise he'll be home early tonight." Brooke said smiling.

"I appreciate that but it's not the reason I came here." She said and handed Brooke 20 dollars.

"What's this for?" she asked confused.

"For the Nathan/Haley bet. I'm putting my money on the upcoming weekend." She said with a wink before leaving Brooke and Peyton to roll on the floor laughing.

--

"So, good game guys!" Haley said and bumped fits with both Nathan and Lucas of them. 

"Thanks, Hales. Hope you enjoyed the show." Lucas said.

"Yeah, I did."

"So, what did you and mom talk about?" Lucas asked.

"About the incident on Friday night." Haley said her smile fading. "She thinks I should tell my family about it."

"Why don't you?" Lucas asked softly.

"I don't wanna worry them..." Haley said looking at the floor. "It's something I gotta learn to live with and I just can't have them breathing down my neck." She said.

"How are you doing, anyway?" Lucas asked. "Nathan told me you've had some trouble sleeping." Lucas said. Haley looked at Nathan who was standing next to him with an upset look but before she could say anything, Nathan spoke.

"I'm sorry but he asked. I had to tell him." He said.

"That's ok." Haley said and then continued with a quieter voice.

"Yeah, it's been only few days so the whole thing kinda bothers me." Haley confessed quietly.

"Hey, I'm here. Always." Lucas said and wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah, I know. And I'm doing better now, I guess. I just can't stop thinking about the fact that the asshole is still out there." She said and saw the worried and empathetic looks on the guys' faces.

"But basketball and tutoring is keeping me busy and it's not like I really spend any time alone." She said smiling a bit and looking at Nathan.

Suddenly she heard Brooke and Peyton burst out laughing somewhere behind them and she turned around. Brooke and Peyton were practically rolling on the floor laughing their asses off while Karen just walked away with a grin.

"What the hell are they laughing at?" Lucas asked.

"I don't know but I wanna hear that joke too." Haley said and left the guys to go talk to the cheerleaders. Nathan watched Haley's back intensively.

"I hope there was something we could do." Lucas said.

"There is." Nathan said.

"What are you planning?" Lucas asked when he saw a look on Nathan's face that only meant trouble. It was the same look he'd had when he had convinced Lucas that stealing a school bus was a good idea.

"I'm gonna find the asshole who did this." Nathan said.

"And do what?" Lucas asked. Nathan turned to look at him annoyed.

"And give him milk and cookies. What the hell do you think I'm gonna do?" Nathan said sarcastically but then continued with a more serious tone. "The asshole deserves everything that's coming his way."

"How are you gonna find him?"

"I don't know but I'm gonna figure out something." He said and left towards the busses.

* * *

"Good game, Chase... Nice D, McAndrew... Way to push yourself, Lansen." Haley was making her way towards the back of the bus while high fiving several players. They were in the bus on their way back to Tree Hill. 

After giving Whitey the folder Haley decided to find Lucas or Nathan who were sitting with some guys in the back of the bus. It had become a ritual that she would hang out with them after the game.

"...no, no, no. Jennifer Aniston is way hotter than Angelina Jolie." Lucas said.

"Are you kidding me? Have you seen Jolie's lips?" Tim asked and they both turned to look at Nathan for his opinion.

"I'm gonna have to go with Lucas. Aniston is the hottest woman."

"You're all wrong." Haley said smirking while making her way between Lucas and Nathan who were sitting next to the isle turned around to face the back of the bus. She sat down next to Tim who was sitting behind Nathan. Lucas was across the isle smirking.

"Jessica Alba is way hotter than either of those two." She finished with a smirk. All guys nodded their heads in agreement.

"So, good game guys! Way to work the crowd." Haley said and high fived Tim who was sitting next to her.

"We were pretty awesome, huh. Did you see that one chick flash me from the crowd?" Tim asked with a dreamy face that made Haley laugh.

"Oh by the way, Whitey told me to make sure you don't party tonight." Haley said looking at Nathan and then continued with a grin. "So, not only am I your maid, cook, housekeeper and tutor but apparently I'm also your babysitter."

* * *

"Hey, you hungry?" Nathan asked from Haley while holding the door open for her. They had just gotten back to Nathan's apartment. 

"No, but don't worry. Just because we spent the whole day in Verona, doesn't mean I won't fulfill my duty and make you your dinner." Haley said with a smile while making her way towards the kitchen.

"Actually I was thinking we could order pizza or something." Nathan said.

"Really?" Haley asked surprised. "I thought you didn't like to order in." She said referring back to the conversation they had had when he had forced her to make food instead of ordering.

"Or maybe I just wanted to be an asshole." He said apologetically.

"Maybe." She said with a small smile.

"Look, I just want you to know that I'm sorry for being like that." He said making his way towards him.

"Hey, don't worry about it. I was the biggest bitch so I'm sorry too."

"Truce?" Nathan asked holding his arms open for a hug. Haley excepted it with a wide grin and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I've think we've had a truce for a while now." She said while taking a step back and looking at him while keeping her hands around his neck and playing with the soft hair on the back of his neck. He automatically leaned back a bit to her touch while having no intentions of unwrapping his arms from her waist.

Nathan couldn't help but marvel how well she fit in his arms. His arms wrapped securely around her waist made him wonder how he had been able to live without that feeling before.

Haley took a step closer and started to pull his head lightly towards hers. When he didn't break the connection and instead did the actual opposite; leaned towards her, Haley started to tilt her head. Nathan unwrapped his left hand bringing it slowly to her cheek to put a strand of hair behind her ear before closing his eyes and opening his mouth a bit.

But unfortunately for them and like in every movie, only few centimeters before their lips connected, they were interrupted. By a knocking on the front door. Nathan couldn't help but let out an annoyed groan while making his way towards the door. He smled a bit when he heard Haley mumble an angry 'son of a bitch' under her breath. He yanked the front door open annoyed.

Nathan opened the door to find a pair of identical twin brothers standing in front of him. And glaring. Quickly their glares turned into grins when they looked over his shoulder.

"Whatta-" Nathan asked but got cut off by a shriek. A shriek by Haley.

Nathan turned around to look what was wrong but he only saw her run past him and jump on the twins' awaiting arms.

"Oh my god, I can't believe you're here!" she was yelling while being almost crushed for being hugged so hard.

"Looking good, Hales." The other said taking a good look at her.

"Oh shut up." She said smiling.

Nathan coughed a bit while looking at Haley with a look that could only be described as 'who the hell are those guys'.

"Oh, sorry. These are my brothers Chris and Brian. Guys, this is-" she started but got cut off by Brian.

"Nathan Scott." Brian said offering his hand to Nathan. He took it quickly and shook it and then did the same to Chris.

"So, what are you doing here?" she asked while holding the door open so they could all go inside.

"So, just wanting to see our favorite lil' baby sister isn't reason enough for a visit?" Brian asked while making his way towards the apartment. Haley raised a single eye brow and looked at him in disbelief.

"What?" he asked. Haley wrapped her arms over her chest and continued to stare at him without saying a word.

"Ok, so Quinn called and said you were living with your best friend's asshole brother because of some bet so we promised to come to check out things. Jesus, stop with the third degree." Brian said quickly while Haley just shook her head laughing.

"So, this is where you're living." Chris stated looking around. "How about a tour?" he asked from Nathan.

"Not much to see." Nathan said and started to point around the apartment. "Kitchen, living room, bathroom is on the right and bedroom on the back." At the mention of the bedroom Chris and Brian looked at each other sharply.

"So, is that where you sleep?" Chris asked from Nathan.

"Or is that where our Haley sleeps?" Brian continued before he had time to answer. There was a short silence.

"Is she sleeping in your bed, Nathan?" Chris asked with a glare.

"Of course not." Nathan said quickly. Brian smacked Nathan upside the head.

"What-" Nathan started confused but got cut off by Chris. Or it could've been Brian. Nathan wasn't sure.

"Dude, what's the matter with you?" Brian asked from Nathan.

"But-" Nathan tried again.

"Making our sister sleep in that lame ass couch? She deserves your bedroom, bathroom _and_ your crappy car." Chris said annoyed.

"Nathan drives a Mustang." Haley said trying not to burst out laughing. She was used to her brothers being overprotective of her and her sisters.

"_And_ your sweet ass car." Chris corrected himself.

"Brian, Chris. Relax." Haley said calmly and they all turned to look at her. "Nathan already offered his bed while he would've taken the couch." Brian and Chris both turned to look at Nathan.

"That move might just save your ass." Brian said studying Nathan.

"So, how's college?" Haley asked changing the subject. They sat down in the living room.

"It's good." Brian said with a wide grin.

"_Very_ good." Chris said matching his brother's grin.

"I don't wanna know." Haley said laughing and turned to look at Nathan. "Brian and Chris are seniors at Duke."

"Really? I'm applying there." Nathan said suddenly interested.

"Yeah, it's a good school. As long as you like basketball." Chris said which made Haley and Nathan smile.

"Do you play ball like Lucas?" Brian asked.

"Nathan's the co-captain of the varsity with Lucas." Haley said smiling.

"Oh really." Chris said and looked at Brian. "Always knew she had a thing for ballers." He muttered while Brian just nodded his head in agreement.

"Excuse me?" Haley asked.

"Nothing." Brian said and shook his head. "So Hales, how's school?"

"The same."

"Still got a 4.0?"

"Yep."

"That's my girl." Brian said proudly.

"Oh, did I tell you that Whitey asked me to be the manager for the varsity?"

"No, you didn't but that's great. He's always had a soft spot for the James's."

"What do you mean?" Haley asked.

"Well, we both played basketball and the girls were all basketball cheeleaders back in their days."

"That's right! I'd totally forgotten about that." Haley said remembering going to the basketball games when she was younger.

"So, how's the team doing this season?" Brian asked from Nathan.

"We just beat Verona tonight. We're playing against Bear Creek on Wednesday. The state championship game, which we'll hopefully play at, is on Saturday."

"So, it's looking pretty good this year? Whitey deserves his state title."

"Yes, he does." Nathan said and they all stayed silent for a second.

"Looking buff there, Chris. Been working out?" Haley asked changing the subject.

"Hey!" Brian said offended.

"You look very buff too, Bry."

"Thank you. He's got a new girlfriend." Brian said pointing Chris while laughing.

"Oh really? What happened to... umh..."

"Brittany?"

"I was gonna say Erica but obviously she's history. So what happened to Brittany?"

"She was Jessica's cousin."

"And Jessica is...?" Haley asked confused.

"The chick I dated after Misha." Chris explained like it was te most obvious thing.

"Ok, we seriously need to see each other more often. Who the hell is Misha?"

"Erica's roommate."

"Oh, ok. So that explains why it didn't work out with them. Dude, nice group of girls there." Haley said laughing.

"You should've seen them go at it when they all found out." Brian said excited. "I'm talking about cat fighting to the ultimate level. And it got even better when they all realized that Chris was to blame. I swear to god they were ready to rip his eyes out."

"Chris, you gotta start treating girls better." Haley said a bit dissappointed.

"I do! I buy them flowers, pay for their food, hold their hands and all that shit."

"All that doesn't matter if you break up with them for some stupid reason, or in some cases: no reason at all. And you do do that." Haley said.

"No, I don't." He said which made Haley and Brian laugh out loud. "I don't!"

"Oh, let's review, shall we?" Haley started with a smile. "July 2002. We spent three weeks in San Diego with Aunt Cindy. You remember your summer fling Susan? You remember why you broke up from her?"

"Did you see how bad her sun burn was?" Chris tried to justify while Haley and Brian laughed along with Nathan.

"You broke up with her because she had a sun burn. How can you not see the insanity?" Haley tried to reason him.

"Did you not _see_ her? It was like dating a crab!"

"So yeah, she looked like a red M&M but that's besides the point." Haley said. "You've gotta start taking dating more seriously."

"I am. This new girl, Jamie, she's so hot you wouldn't believe it."

"Yeah, because looks are all what matter." Haley said rolling her eyes.

"Oh, trust me. She's so hot I'd rather cut off my ear than break up with her. If you'd see her you'd know." Chris said while Haley looked at Brian for comfirmation. He nodded his head furiously which made Haley laugh even more.

"So, any guys in your life?" Brian asked changing the subject while studying Haley's face carefully. First she laughed, then looked at Nathan, then blushed and then coughed embarrassed.

"Besides the one you're living with?" Chris added. Haley looked at Nathan and both were instantly reminded by their hot, almost-kiss before the twins interrupted.

"No, no guys in my life." Haley finally mumbled tearing her eyes off of Nathan. Chris and Brian looked at each other with a knowing look. There was a short, awkward silence.

"So, we should probably get going." Brian said getting up.

"What, already?" Haley asked disappointed.

"Yeah, but don't worry. We'll visit you more." Chris said hugging Haley.

"Yeah, thanks for coming. I've missed you both." Haley mumbled.

"We've missed you too, kiddo. Remember that we're not far away so if you ever need anything..."

"I know." Haley said hugging Brian.

"It was good to see you, Baby-James." Brian said with a grin. Haley groaned out loud.

"Baby-James?" Nathan asked with a laugh. "Who would wanna be called that?"

"No one has called me that since 3rd grade. I thought everyone had forgotten about that." Haley said.

"You're always our baby sister, the youngest of the clan. So get used to the nick name." Chris said kissing the top of her head before opening the front door.

"Thanks for stopping by." Haley said hugging them both again.

"Always a pleasure, kiddo. Take care and like I said, if you ever need anything..." Brian said while looking at Nathan quickly.

"I'm fine, don't worry. I'll call you after the game on Wednesday." She said and the twins started to leave. Brian turned around to look at Nathan.

"Hey, Nathan. You wanna show us that hot ass Mustang?"

"Yeah, sure." He said and looked at Haley. "I'll be right back."

"Alright. Bye Chris! Bye Brian!" she said and waved them goodbye before getting inside the apartment and closing the door.

Nathan watched the twins wave happily back but as soon Haley closed the door, their smiles faded and they turned to glare at him.

"We need to talk, Scott." Chris said taking a hold of Nathan's arm and starting to drag him down the stairs. As soon as they were down on the ground and out of sight from the apartments, Chris pushed him hard against the wall of the building.

"What the fuck do you want from Haley!" Chris asked while Brian stood in the background his eyes never leaving Nathan's.

"What-" Nathan started.

"And don't even try to play the dumb card, although I'm sure it would come very easily from you, you jock." Chris said while having a strong hold from Nathan's shirt.

"Hey, watch it." Nathan said looking at Chris annoyed. It took every ounce of Nathan to not beat his sorry ass but he knew it would do no good. Not to even mention that there were two of them and only one Nathan.

"Are you trying to get into our sister's pants!" Chris demanded.

"What? No!"

"We're perfectly aware of your way of treating girls. You seduce them, fuck them and leave them. But Haley's not gonna be one of those!"

"I'm not gonna-"

"As soon as you're done with her, you're gonna leave her and break her heart."

"I could never-"

"I don't know what your plan is but you better make fucking sure that it doesn't involve Haley."

"Look, it was just a bet. The only reason she's here is because she lost the bet." Nathan explained. "She doesn't even like me!"

"Are you blind or just plain retarded!" Chris exploded. "She likes you! Everybody can see it! So, we're warning you, Scott. If you take advantage of that, we will fucking break your bones." Chris said and pushed him hard on the chest.

"That's enough, Chris." Brian said calmly from the background.

"But-"

"Go wait in the car." Brian said again.

"Fine." Chris said and took a step back. "Break his face." Chris said to Brian before leaving.

"So, like Chris already asked, what the hell are you doing with Haley?" Brian asked in calm voice that lacked any friendliness.

"Nothing! We're just friends!" Nathan said frustrated.

"Right. Don't make me beat your sorry ass." He stated. "Do you like my sister?"

"Of course I do."

"That's not what I meant. Do you _like_ her?"

"She's my friend." He said dodging the question.

"Do you _like_ her?" Brian asked again.

"She's my brother's best friend." Nathan said again.

"Do you like her?" Brian asked in a more annoyed voice.

"She's my roommate." Nathan tried again.

"Do you like her!" Brian finally yelled.

"Yes, I do!" Nathan yelled. "She's the hottest thing I know! She's funny, she's sweet, she's smart and cool and I can't fucking stop thinking about her!" Nathan yelled and ran his hand through his hair frustrated.

"I should beat you for saying my sister is hot but luckily for you, the rest made up for it." Brian said and then sighed and started with a softer voice. "Look, as you've probably noticed, we get pretty intense when it comes to our sisters, especially Haley."

"No kidding." Nathan muttered.

"Haley is the kindest person I know. She always sees the best in everyone while ignoring the worst. And that's what makes her vulnerable. There are people in this world who would love to take advantage of her kindness and I hope to your and her sake that you're not one of them."

"I'm not-"

"Haley is our baby sister and center of the whole family. If you think that Chris and I are protective of her, you don't wanna meet her oldest brother Matt or any of her sisters."

"I could never hurt her." Nathan said truthfully. "And believe me or not but I'm also trying to look after her. Make sure she's ok." Nathan said remembering Haley being drugged and almost raped.

"I appreciate that." Brian said. A car honked and they both turned to see Chris sitting behind the wheel annoyed. Brian turned to look at Nathan again.

"Nathan, here's the deal. You like her. She likes you. Whatever you do, you better make fucking sure she doesn't get hurt." Brian said glaring at him again. "Do not hurt her. She can't handle it."

"I won't."

"Good, 'cause if you do, I'll sic Chris on you." He said and went inside the car. Nathan watched as the car drove by him and both Chris and Brian did the cut throat motion to Nathan. He sighed and walked back to the apartment.

He stopped in front of the window and saw Haley sitting on the couch in her pyjamas, flipping through the channels bored. Nathan swallowed hard while the twins' words echoed in his head.

_Do not hurt her. She can't handle it._

_You're gonna leave her and break her heart._

_She can't handle it..._

_She can't handle it..._

Nathan ran a hand through his hair. He cared about Haley more than he could ever admit to anyone, let alone himself. When he looked at her, all he wanted to do was pull her in his arms and never let go. He could never hurt her and the thought that someone could, that someone had actually tried to, made him sick in his stomach.

He swallowed again before taking a deep breath in and opening the front door. Haley looked at him with a smile.

"So, what did they think about your car?"

"Huh?"

"Your Mustang."

"Umh, yeah they liked it." he said.

"So, I was thinking I could make you a nice sandwich from the leftover turkey from Karen's."

"No, that's not necessary. I'm just gonna go straight to bed." Nathan said without looking at her.

"Or we can order in something too, that's fine." She said looking at Nathan while he was looking at everywhere besides her.

"No, I'm not hungry. I'm just wiped from the game." He said trying to give her a reassuring smile but it ended up looking more like grimace.

"Ok, if you're sure you don't need anything." Haley said.

"Thanks for being such a good friend."

"_Friend_." Haley repeated slowly.

It was like a slap in her face. They had almost kissed earlier and now they were back to being friends. "Yeah, no problem." She forced herself to say to him.

"So, I'm just gonna go to bed. G'nite." He said and walked in his bedroom.

Nathan leaned back on the closed bedroom door and sighed. The twins' words were still echoing in his head and he swore to himself that he would never hurt her. Nathan was aware of his history with girls and the thought that Haley would be one of those girls sickened him.

So in order to protect her, he decided to take a step back from her. Build up that wall around him again. The way he saw it, if they were nothing but friends, she wouldn't get hurt.

And that was worth the heartache of never being able to have her.

* * *


	11. Chapter 10

Hey, everyone. Thank you so much for all the awesome reviews, you guys rock! Anyways, here's chapter 10. Hope you enjoy. :)

Chapter 10

"... and then Lucas said that he's never felt like this towards anyone else and he gave me this bracelet." Brooke said showing Haley her wrist.

"How does it look?"

"Looks great." Haley said not looking up from her notebook where she had been drawing circles all hour. She was leaning on her hand looking uninterested.

"You're not even looking." Brooke complained. Haley glanced at the bracelet and then back again at the notebook.

"Looks great." Haley repeated. Brooke gave an annoyed sigh and shut Haley's notebook.

"Ok, I want none of that broodiness. Apparently that's Nathan's job." Brooke said looking over Haley's shoulder at Nathan who was sitting on the other side of the room. "What the hell is the matter with you two?"

"What are you talking about?" Haley asked sneaking a glance at Nathan's direction. He was sitting low on his chair with his hands crossed over his chest looking bored.

"I'm talking about you and Nathan and how for the past few days you've been all buddy buddy and now you won't even look at each other."

"You're imagining things, Brooke." Haley muttered looking at her notebook.

Haley didn't want to talk about Nathan and most of all she didn't want Brooke talking about him. Because every time she heard his name, all she could hear was his voice in her head. _'Thanks for being such a good friend.'_

The thought of him being nothing more than a friend was killing her but not even half as much as the thought that Nathan was okay with that.

"No, I'm not imagining anything and stop acting like I'm not even here." Brooke snapped. She was getting sick of Haley ignoring her. "Look, Haley." Brooke started with a softer voice. "Something obviously happened between you two and whatever it was, it doesn't look good."

"Brooke-"

"But you can fix it and I want to help you."

"Stop it, Brooke. Now you listen to me good 'cause I'm only gonna say this once." Haley started with an uncharacteristically rude voice. "Nothing happened between Nathan and I. Absolutely _nothing_. We're _friends_ and that's the way it's gonna be. Now, drop this and don't mention his name again. Capiché?"

"Capiché! Jesus..." Brooke said with a small smile.

"Good." Haley said and then continued with a softer voice. "Now, tell me more about your 1-year anniversary with Lucas. Was the sex as good as you had planned?" She asked with a wink. Anything to get her mind off of Nathan.

"Oh, totally. You remember the eatable panties that I bought?"

"Yeah?"

"So worth the money."

"Good." Haley said and started to draw circles on her notebook again.

"Oh, you're no fun. I'm gonna go talk to Nathan." Brooke said and moved her desk next to Nathan's.

"What's up, buddy?" Brooke whispered to Nathan.

"Nothing." He grunted.

"Ok, I see you two both have the same grumpiness-disease." Brooke said sarcastically and was about to move her desk back next to Haley's because Nathan was obviously not in a talking mood, but Nathan grabbed her hand before she had time to move.

"Wait, I actually had to ask you about something."

"No, I don't know what Lucas is doing today." Brooke answered thinking that was what he was gonna ask.

"No, its actually got nothing to do with him."

Brooke immediately looked at him interested. It wasn't every day that Nathan wanted something from her that didn't involve Lucas.

"What's up?"

"I need you to tell me everything about last Friday." Nathan whispered so the teacher wouldn't hear.

"About the party?" Brooke asked.

"Yeah. Everything after the three of you split up."

"Well, I went to talk to Bevin while Peyton went to bathroom and Haley went to get a refill from the kitchen. After talking to Bevin I went to the bathroom and came out. I found Peyton who didn't know where Haley was. We saw Bevin who said that she had seen Haley and she had looked drunk. That's when we knew something was up cause we knew she wasn't that drunk. We tried to look for her and accidentally heard these frat guys talking about how some blonde guy had taken a girl to the basement and locked the door. We got one of the guys to open the door and we ran downstairs. She was... she was... she was lying on the couch passed out." Brooke ended.

"Then what happened?"

"Well, Peyton called you guys and I called the poison information center and then you guys showed up."

"Anything else?"

"No. Well we found his shirt and found the roofies from the pocket."

"Was there anything else in the pocket?"

"Umh, I think some money and a receipt or something."

"A receipt? To what?"

"I can't remember."

"Well, do you still have it?"

"No, flushed down the pills and threw the rest of the stuff in your trash can. Have you taken the trash out yet?"

"No. So it's still there?"

"Yeah, why are you asking all these questions?"

"No reason, just trying to figure out exactly what happened that night."

"Ok..." Brooke said. "Anything else?"

"Nope." Nathan said and turned to look at the teacher to let Brooke know that the conversation was over. Brooke nodded her head and moved her desk back to where Haley was.

* * *

"Hey buddy!" Lucas yelled in Haley's ear while sitting down next to her in the bleachers. She was waiting for Nathan to get done with the practise.

"Hey, Luke. How was practise?" Haley asked smiling. She had missed hanging out Lucas.

"Pretty easy since we have a game tomorrow. How was tutoring?"

"It was ok. The dumbass is not so dumbass-y anymore."

"Good, who was the kid? I always forget who your tutees are."

"Today, like all the other Tuesdays along with Mondays and Fridays, I have Gregory Smith a.k.a. the most annoying jock in this state. The only thing he talks about is all the freshmen he's hooked up with and how stupid I am for not 'sexing it up' with him."

"He's really that bad?" Lucas asked immediately protectively.

"Even though I have told him every time that 'I have lost my number, can I get yours' –line, _really_ doesn't work. Jason, another tutor, was supposed to switch his 'Sweaty Fisherman' for Gregory but backed out. Asshole…" Haley muttered.

"Do you want me to have a talk with Smith?" he asked seriously.

"No, he's been actually acting different lately. Hasn't made any annoying remarks. He's finally concentrating on the learning part."

"Good, so what about Wednesdays and Thursdays?"

"On Wednesdays I have Jorge Lopez."

"Who?"

"You remember the latino guy, Juan, who tried to rob that liqueur store and got that black girl pregnant?"

"Oh, yeah."

"It's his little brother. I swear to god Jorge's even worse than his brother and he's only a freshman. He's pretty much failing every class."

"Well, not when you're done with her." Lucas said reassuringly.

"Yeah, hope so. And finally, on Thursdays I have Justin Hoffman."

"Who's he?"

"A 300-pound-offensive guard. Plays on the varsity and the only thing he can count is the number or concussions he can afford to have." Haley said laughing.

"Yeah, I think I've read about him in the papers." Lucas said.

"Read about who?" Brooke asked walking towards them.

"Haley's tutee. Hey, babe. How has your day been?" Lucas asked before giving Brooke a long kiss.

"Wow, so much better now." She said stroking his face.

"Oh god, get a room." Haley said rolling her eyes. Brooke quickly stood up holding Lucas' hand.

"Tutor Girl's right. We need a room. Let's go." She said starting to pull him up.

"Umh, talk to later, Hales."

"Bye, Luke." Haley yelled after him laughing. She then turned back to her homework but didn't get much done because of being interrupted.

"Tutor girl." Haley looked up to see Tim running up the stairs. He sat down next to her.

"Whaddap, Smith." She asked and bumped fists with him when she realized what she was doing nowadays. Calling people by their last name, using the word 'dude' more than she should and bumping fists with jocks... Oh yeah, she was definitely one of the guys. With a smile she turned back to her homework.

"Whatcha do-oing?" Tim sing-songed. Haley looked at her calculus book and her calculator with a smile.

"Umh, homework?" she said raising her eye brow with an amused smile.

"Oh, yeah, that." He said realizing. "So, can you please just apologize to Nathan?" He asked. Haley looked at him confused.

"What?"

"Well, he's been in a pissy mood the whole day and it's starting to affect his game."

"Maybe you should take this conversation to him. I haven't done anything." She muttered.

"Sorry."

"And what makes you think he would be in a pissy mood because of me?"

"You kidding? You're the only one who has that affect on him. Even his dad who's the biggest asshole and the worst father in the state, doesn't have any effect on his game anymore."

"Great. So I'm worse than Dan. Perfect." Haley said annoyed.

"No. The exact opposite actually." Tim started. "You're the only one he cares enough about to let affect his game." He said. Haley looked at him with her mouth open.

"Well, I'm sure he cares more about Lucas. I mean, Nathan and I are just friends." Haley said quickly.

"You were never just friends." He said with a smile and stood up. Haley smiled at him fondly.

"You know, Tim. Don't let people treat you like you're stupid. You're smarter than most of us."

"Thanks but I don't think the world is ready for a smart Tim yet." He said and winked when Haley laughed out loud.

"Look, Haley." Tim started with a soft voice. "I don't know what's going on with you and Nathan but I hope you two can work it out. We're all rooting for you two." he said with a smile and patted her on the shoulder before leaving towards the locker room. Haley smiled after him before getting back to her homework.

Nathan was glaring at Tim furiously. He had just gotten out of the locker room when he had seen Haley in the other side of the gym sitting with Tim. Then to add more fuel to the fire, Tim had put his hand on her shoulder and said something. And then she had smiled. And to make matters worse, she had laughed. She had laughed _with_ him, not _at_ him.

_That son-of-a-bitch pretend-to-be-your best friend motherfucker who will fuck your girl as soon as you turn your back. Asshole!_

Tim opened the locker room door and walked in. Nathan, who had gone back inside to wait for him, grabbed him by his shirt and pushed him roughly against the wall.

"What the fuck was that?" Nathan asked angrily.

"Dude, I'm sorry I didn't give my 100 at practise but the game's tomor-"

"I'm talking about Haley." He cut him off impatiently. Tim tried his best to hide the smirk that was forming on his lips. He lightly pushed Nathan away from him and started to walk towards his locker which was somewhere in the room.

"Where the hell is my locker?" Tim mumbled while looking around for his locker.

Ever since the previous fall when the school board, led by Dan Scott, had decided that the boys' locker room needed to be bigger and the reconstruction had started, the whole place had been a mess. The left corner of the room had some benches were the team usually sat at half time. The rest of the room was now filled with rows of lockers and single lockers scattered in every direction making the whole place seem like a maze. Thank god all the lockers had numbers because it was impossible to find your own any other way.

Tim looked around trying to remember where his locker was. He then spotted his locker 85 between 24 and 112 by the showers.

"So, what were you and Haley doing?" Nathan asked following him through the maze of lockers.

"We were just talking." Tim said with a smile. Seeing Nathan so worked up over a girl was priceless. Tim smirked while opening his locker.

"About what? Do you like her? Did you ask her out? What did she say?" Nathan asked going from angry to worried in less than two seconds.

"We have a date tonight." He said taunting him.

"What!" Nathan asked his eyes narrowing in anger. His fingers curled in a ball and he was more than ready to beat his ass.

"Yeah, the classic dinner and a movie. She wanted to pick out a crappy movie though so there wouldn't be many people in the theatre, if you know what I mean." He added with a wink. He knew he was playing with fire but he couldn't help but tease him a bit.

"Tim, you have exactly 3 seconds to get out of here before I break your arm." He said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, I'm going." He said. "With her." He said with a smirk but instantly regretted it when he practically saw fire behind Nathan's eyes when he heard his remark.

Nathan took a fast step towards him and swinged his hand back and then towards him. But instead of hitting Tim's face, he hit the locker behind him.

"Goddammit, Tim!" Nathan yelled. "That's Haley! _My_ Haley! She's off-limits!" he yelled furiously.

"But I thought you two were just friends." He said trying to sound as calm as possible. Truth to be told, Nathan had scared him. He had never seen him so angry and Tim had seriously thought for a second that Nathan was going to hit him.

"We are but that's different." Nathan said uncomfortably. "Haley and I... she is... I... She's just off-limits!" he finally said annoyed.

"Chill, Nate." Tim said and took his stuff from his locker. "I was kidding."

"What?"

"We don't have a date." He said with a smile and closed the locker door.

"Why would you lie?" Nathan asked.

"The question you should ask is why would you care so much if I did go out with her." He said and Nathan looked at him. "Which I'm not doing." Tim added quickly just to be safe.

"Sometimes I don't get you, Nate. You've never liked any girl as much as you like her but you're also never been so distant from any girl either."

"She's not just any girl." Nathan muttered.

"No, she's not. She's really cool. Are you afraid of hurting her? After what she's been through it's no wonder you wanna protect her." Tim said. "But now you're both just hurting."

"But how can I be sure if she likes me or not?" Nathan asked. He couldn't believe that he was asking Tim 'T-Dawg' Smith for advise on girls.

"Well, first of all you could take the blind fold off since you're obviously stupid enough to not see it. But if you need to know, ask if she wants to see a movie but decide the movie yourself."

"What? How does that help me at all? We watch movies all the time, anyways."

"But you always make the choosing part into this whole nauseating flirting-marathon where she deliberately picks chick flicks and you pick action or horror movies just so you can bicker and flirt the hell out of each other."

Nathan had a sudden flash back to that time they were at the video rental store picking a movie. It had taken them about 45 minutes and over 40 turned down chick flicks and action movies to finally decide on 'Love and Basketball'.

"Maybe... But I don't see how that has-" Nathan started.

"So, this time cut the whole flirting part off and just watch a movie. If she thinks your nothing but a friend, she'll be more than happy to watch any movie but if she declines, it just shows that she's more interested in the flirting back, which proves she likes you." Tim explained to him like it was the most obvious thing.

"Dude, that almost makes sense." Nathan says.

"I know. Trust me, she'll turn you down on that offer so fast it'll make that blind folded, idiotic, little head of yours spin."

"Hey! Since when did we reverse roles? You're actually insulting me." Nathan whined.

"Oh, it's always been this way, Nate. You've just been too stupid to realize it." he said with a smirk. "Kinda like with Haley." He said and started to walk out of the room. Nathan followed him and looked at him with newfound respect.

"You know, you're pretty smart." Nathan said laughing.

"Yeah, people keep saying that." He said remembering Haley's words from few minutes ago while walking through the basketball court. He stopped once they got to the other side of the gym where Haley was sitting.

"So, let me simplify this for you so your small brains will understand it." Tim said with a smile. "She likes you and you like her. Don't be stupid." He said quietly so Haley wouldn't hear him and left.

Nathan stood there looking after Tim with a smile.

"What's up?" Haley asked coming down the bleachers to where he was.

"I never thought Tim was the smart one." He said.

"Well, he is almost the only one along with Lucas in the team that doesn't need tutoring." Haley pointed out while making her way towards the parking lot.

* * *

"So, what do you want for dinner?" Nathan asked while opening his apartment door and holding it open for her to get in.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking that question?"

She had no idea how she was supposed to be nothing but friends around him. Every time she looked at him she could feel the butterflies waking up in her stomach. Actually, every time she even _thought_ of him, she could feel them. And now she was supposed to live there for the rest of the week? Haley sighed at the thought.

"Yeah, I guess." Nathan muttered. "I'm gonna take the trash out!" he announced and went to get the two trash bags, one plastic and one paper.

Once he got outside in front of the trash cans, he quickly looked around to check that no one was watching. He opened the first bag and looked inside disgusted. Before starting to dig in, he decided to check the paper back first. It was full of paper.

"Oh, thank god she recycles." He muttered and started to go through the papers.

"Bingo." He said with a smirk when he finally found the small receipt. He looked at it and smiled before throwing the rest of the trash away and getting inside the apartment.

Haley was sitting by the kitchen counter not really doing anything. She turned to look at him when he got inside and once again there was an uncomfortable silence between them.

"So, wanna watch a movie? I was thinking of 'Terminator'." Nathan finally asked.

"I think I'll pass." Haley said and Nathan did his winning dance in his head. He then concentrated on Haley who was looking around the apartment everywhere but him.

"We can skip the movie. You ok?" he asked and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Whoa, yeah! I'm just gonna go make some dinner." Haley shook the hand off like it had burned and headed quickly to the kitchen.

"You need some help?" he asked.

"NO! I mean, no thanks. I'm good. Just watch some TV or something." Haley said and turned her back on him to start the dinner.

Nathan looked at her back with a longing gaze. Being nothing more than friends was the worst idea in his life, and that was a lot coming from the guy who had stolen a school bus and almost died because of steroids, to name a few. Tim's words had made an impact on him. Even a blind person could see that Haley was feeling uncomfortable about the whole just-friends situation they were in now.

He knew he either had to let her go or tell her how he felt but that living together/flirting on and off -friendship they had was killing them both, especially her. Nathan was better at hiding his feelings so even though it was killing him too, it was easy to pretend to not have any other feelings for her besides friendship.

Nathan went to sit on the couch and turned the TV on. He tried to watch the TV but just couldn't concentrate.

He had to do something.

"Dinner is served." Haley muttered while bringing the plates of food into the living room. She had stopped trying to get him to eat in the kitchen early on and had learnt that living room was his sanctuary and that he did everything there. He probably would have had his fridge there if it were possible.

They ate few minutes in silence looking at the TV but not really watching it.

"What's on?" Haley asked.

"Scrubs." he mumbled while chewing.

"Reruns?"

"Yeah, second season." He said not taking his eyes off the TV.

Both of them were now concentrating on the show.

That one doctor, JD, was standing outside his colleague's front door with a bunch of flowers in his hands. His colleague, Elliot, was crying when she opened the door. Haley vaguely remembered the episode being something about the girl losing all of her stuff and JD having a crush on her. Haley concentrated on the screen again.

Elliot took the flowers from JD and let him in. There was a voice-over from JD: _'Cos even if it breaks your heart to be just friends, if you really care about someone, you'll take the hit._

End credits started to roll but neither Haley nor Nathan made any effort to change the channel.

Haley looked at the screen with her mouth open. That JD guy was right. If she really cared about Nathan, she would be a friend for him like he wanted.

Nathan took a deep breath. He had to tell her how he felt. But before he had time to say anything, Haley turned to look at him with a friendly smile.

"How about that movie?"

Nathan looked at her happy face and suddenly realized that she was ok with being nothing but friends. Nathan quickly hid his disappointment.

"Yeah, sure. Let's watch a movie."

"That's what friends do."

* * *

I know, I know... I keep going back and forth between the whole "let's be friends, let's not be friends" thing but just bare with me. Love is never simple. Especially in my stories. :) 


	12. Chapter 11

Hey everyone and thanks for reviewing. You guys rock:D Anyways, here's chapter 11. I must apologize, it's short and not much happens but I hope you still enjoy. :)

* * *

Chapter 11

"Hey Nate."

"What's up Tim." Nathan said bumping fists with Tim while walking on the hallway of the school.

"Nothin'. So, how did last night go? Let me guess, no movie?"

"Yeah, that's what she said first but then right when I was about to tell her, she changed her mind."

"Oh, tough. But you still told her you like her, right?"

"No, are you crazy?"

"You should've told her, man."

"Yeah, well. I didn't." Nathan said irritated and Tim decided to drop the subject.

"So, where are you going?" Tim asked. They'd been walking through the hallways and now they were in front of the main doors.

Nathan turned to look at Tim.

"I gotta run some errands." He said and opened the doors and headed towards the gym parking lot where his car was.

"But we gotta leave for our game in 30 minutes." Tim said.

"Yeah, I know. I'll be back by then." Nathan said.

"You want some company?"

"Naw, I gotta do this alone." Nathan said and Tim stopped walking. "See you in half an hour."

Ever since the previous night when he and Haley had 'officially' become friends, things had been smooth and pleasant. Smooth and pleasant but definitely not normal. Because normal would've meant either yelling and bitching or constant flirting.

Nathan had decided not to tell Haley how he felt because he thought that Haley wanted to only be friends. In reality, friendship was the farthest thing she wanted but she had promised to herself to try that if it was what Nathan wanted. And since Nathan was too good in hiding his feelings, Haley had no idea about his true feelings. The whole thing was so ridiculous that neither suspected anything else.

Nathan drove the main street slowly while looking at the stores around it.

"It's gotta be here somewhere..." he mumbled while looking between the street in front of him and the stores.

"Ha! There!" he said triumphantly and parked the car in front of the store he was looking for. He dug a receipt from his pocket and looked at a logo on it that said 'Tattoos'. He then looked up at the same logo that was on the window of a tattoo parlor.

He opened the door and stepped inside. An old man with a two-week-old beard who had about 50 of his body covered in tattoos, looked up from the porn magazine he was "reading".

"Can I help you?" he asked in a bored voice from Nathan.

"Yeah, I've got a question." Nathan started. "This is the only tattoo parlor in the city, right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"A guy got his tattoo done here and I need to know who he is."

"We don't release customer information, sorry." He said bored and looked down at the magazine again.

"Oh, come on. This is really important. This person... I need to know who he is." Nathan said.

"Why?"

"I just do."

"Then I can't help you."

"Fine, he... This guy tried to... This asshole tried to rape my friend and I wanna find him and break his neck." Nathan said abruptly. The old man put the magazine away.

"Your friend don't remember him?"

"He roofied her so... He left some stuff behind and this is the only thing that can help me find him." Nathan showed him the receipt. The guy took it and looked at it.

"Yeah, that's ours. The date says that it was done here about a month ago. Let me check who was working then." He said and pulled a bunch of papers and started to go through them.

"Joe." He finally said while looking at the old work schedule.

"Can you tell me which tattoo he got?"

"We don't keep that detailed records but according to the receipt, he paid 250 bucks. Usually phrases cost that much." The old man said still looking at the receipt.

"Well, can you call Joe and ask what he remembers about that guy?" Nathan asked.

"Joe tends to disappear whenever he has time off. He has a shift in few days though. I can have him call you when he gets here." He said.

"Yeah, that would be good." Nathan said and wrote down his number for him. Nathan thanked him and started to walk away. He opened the door and was about to walk out when he stopped. He turned to look at the old guy again.

"Look, this girl... she's... she's really important to me." Nathan started not taking his eyes off the old man. "I care about her a lot and I gotta find this guy... But not only do I want to find him, I _need_ to find him. For her sake." Nathan said. For the first time the man looked at him with a softer look.

"I'll do everything I can." He said quietly.

"Thanks." Nathan said and left.

* * *

"... so then he tried to do the fade away and did you see me block that one guy with that ugly ass pirate tattoo? I mean how gay can a guy look."

"Yes, Tim. We all saw how awesome you were." Haley said smiling.

cough cough

"And yes, the cheerleaders were also marvellous." Haley said laughing when Brooke coughed.

Brooke, Peyton, Haley, Lucas, Nathan, Jake and Tim were all in Karen's café celebrating yet another victorious game.

"So, one more game before state championship game?" Brooke asked to make sure.

"Yep, on Friday against Masonboro." Lucas confirmed.

"Are they good? I mean, of course they're good to get this far but are they better than us?" Peyton asked while stealing fries from Jake's plate.

"They've got a few good freshmen this year and their seniors are very experienced. It's gonna be a tough game." Lucas said.

"But nothing that the T-man can't handle!" Tim said and lifted his hand for a high five but everyone just laughed.

"Get it? T-man as in Tim?"

"Yeah, I got it." Haley said smiling and high fived him. "Good game, Tim."

"Thanks." He said with a smile.

"So, Luke. Mom called me earlier today." Haley said looking at him.

"Yeah? What did she say?"

"She told me to thank you for the flowers." Haley said. "But she also said that you should, and I quote, 'stay the hell away from Quinn because that little devil will only bitch and moan about everything while making you feel nothing but inadequate', end quote." Haley said.

"Roger that." Lucas mumbled a bit sad that he had caused so much drama for Haley's family.

"Hey, it doesn't matter what you do. You know she'll be forever mad at us for not getting married." Haley said and laughed with Lucas.

"You're mom wants you to marry Luke?" Peyton asked while Nathan looked at them with a mixture of amusement and jealousy.

"Yeah, she thinks he's the perfect guy-" Haley started.

"She's a smart woman." Lucas said laughing.

"-but she's also known for occasionally making bad judgements about people." Haley finished laughing.

"Hey! That hurts. Really. Right here." Lucas said holding his hands on top of his heart.

"Oh, quit it. You're still mom's golden boy so quit whining." She said smiling.

"Golden boy, huh." Brooke asked laughing.

"Yep. Our moms used to get together and plan our future wedding." Lucas said.

"Yeah, we waited till they had chosen my wedding dress, the center pieces and the thank you-cards to tell them that we were nothing but best friends and that we would never ever get married." Haley said with a grin.

"You're evil." Peyton said laughing with the rest of them.

"I think they cried for months." Lucas added.

"How old were you?" Jake asked.

"Nine." They both said.

"Talk about enthusiastic mothers. So, you two have known each other for pretty long time?" Tim asked.

"Since we were like seven. Haley's mom used to babysit me a lot." Lucas said.

"So, got any dirty gossip about him?" Brooke asked from Haley while nodding towards Lucas.

"I hope you'd never ask." Haley said with a wide grin.

"Hey! Not fair!" Lucas said.

"What do you wanna know?" Haley asked ignoring Lucas.

"Well, you can start by telling me his middle name." Nathan said while smirking at his brother.

"Hales, don't you dare." Lucas said waving his index finger at Haley.

"It's-"

"If you value our friendship and don't want me to tell them about your first kiss, you shut your mouth." Lucas said half kidding.

"Oh, you wouldn't!"

"What happened?" Peyton asked enthusiastically.

Haley and Lucas kept staring at each other as if daring the other to speak.

"Tell, tell, tell, tell, tell, tell..." Tim chanted under his breath while clapping his hands with a wide grin.

"Oh, what the hell." Haley said and looked at Lucas.

"Yeah, do it!" Tim said.

"Eugene!" Haley yelled.

"Their braces got stuck!" Lucas yelled back.

"What?" Tim asked confused.

"His middle name is Eugene." Haley clarified.

"And Haley's braces got stuck with the other guy's braces." Lucas said.

"You two are such dorks." Nathan said smirking.

"Yeah, no wonder your moms wanted you to hook up. They probably thought you wouldn't find anyone else." Tim said laughing.

"Oh!" Nathan yelled laughing and high fived him while the rest just laughed.

"Hey!" Lucas and Haley said offended at the same time.

"You're just mad 'cause you're not getting any." Lucas said to Tim.

"Yeah!" Haley said and then turned to look at Nathan. "And you're just mad 'cause all _you_ are getting is a few unfinished lap dances." Haley said to Nathan with a smirk.

"Yeah!" Lucas said and then turned to look at Haley confused. "Wait, what?"

"Nothing." She said with a smirk while keeping her eyes on Nathan's.

"Well, nothing would be unfinished if it were up to me." Nathan said smirking back at her.

"Oh, you definitely had _something_ up."

"Well, if you ever want to continue 'upping' things, you know where I live."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"You do that."

Nathan and Haley were still staring at each other with wide smirks while completely ignoring the others. Well, not really ignoring, more like forgetting that they were there.

The sexual tension was so visible that even Haley's blind and 'slightly' schizophrenic Great-Aunt Hilda would've blushed in embarrassment... before accusing her of working for the government and wearing a wire.

Tim and Jake looked at the table and the wall or anything else but Nathan and Haley feeling like if they had looked at them, they would have interrupted something. Brooke and Peyton were grinning knowingly while Lucas just looked at Haley and Nathan confused. Well, not really confused. Even he wasn't stupid enough to believe those two were only friends but it did come as a shock to him in some level at how openly they were flirting.

Brooke looked at the two with a wide grin and decided to break the silence and say what everyone already knew.

"Friends my ass."

* * *

"Did you see them? I thought they hated each other!"

"Oh, quit your bitching, Lucas." Brooke said smiling and looked at the road in front of her. They were in Lucas' truck on their way from the café to Brooke's place. "You were the one who wanted them to get along."

"Get along? Yes. But practically have sex in the fucking table right in front of me? Hell no!" Lucas said.

"They were not having sex." Brooke said and paused for a second before continuing with a grin. "Eye-fucking each other? Maybe. But definitely not having sex."

"Brooke!"

* * *

So, any thoughts:) 


	13. Chapter 12

Hey, everyone. Thank you ALL for the awesome reviews. They are great. I have a feeling some won't be too nice after this one... :) Anyways, can't wait for your reviews from this chapter.

Chapter 12

"Eew, how long have they been doing that?"

"Ever since I got here."

"Are they trying to ruin my appetite?"

"Oh honey, they are way past that point."

"Yeah, you're- Eew! I just saw a tongue!"

"And so did the rest of the table. Don't complain. Once I walked in on them when they were 'exploring' each other."

"Disgusting. When was that? And where, so I know to stay away from that cursed place."

"In the hot tub at Nathan's beach house last New Year's Eve."

"What? _My_ hot tub!"

"Yeah, and did I mention they were both naked?"

"That's it. I'm burning the whole goddamn thing."

"Oh my god, I'm so glad that wasn't me."

"Yeah, they reminded me why I find Animal Planet very disturbing."

"Thanks for the visual image."

"No problem."

"Jesus, don't they ever need air?"

"Or food. Lunch hour is supposed to be spent eating."

"Well, they do look like two birds feeding each other."

"I can't even tell where her mouth ends and his starts."

"We should start calling them 'Unimouth'."

"Yeah, as a payback for toxicating my hot tub for good!"

"Oh, by the way Hales, I love your jean skirt."

"Thanks Peyt. I don't usually wear skirts but I thought I'd give it a try today."

"And where did you get that halter neck top? It's gorgeous."

"From Brooke."

"Figures. Hey, what shoes are you wearing?"

"Just a pair of sneakers. Oh, let me show you."

"What? No!"

"Umh... Haley..."

"You should... umh... you're showing..."

"Haley, put your legs down. It's really not a good idea to lift your legs like that when you're wearing a skirt.

"Wha- Oops. Sorry about that."

"No problem. Nice underwear by the way."

"Shut up, Peyt."

"Well, at least Brooke and Lucas didn't see anything. The way their faces are smashed together you'd think they don't even know we're here."

"Jesus, do they have to do that here? Right in the middle of the frigging cafeteria. I mean, some students are only freshmen. They shouldn't be exposed to that yet."

"Yeah, that's what sophomore year is for."

"Yeah, cafeteria is for eating and gossiping. Not PDA."

"They should take advantage of the four janitor's closets in this school."

"I thought there were five."

"No, they turned that one by the labs into an extra storage room for chemistry teachers. The place smells all chemicals and shit. I heard that Sarah White and Jim Tamer made out there for like 5 minutes and they nearly fainted because of the toxics there."

"Where did you hear that?"

"She's lab partners with one of my tutees."

"Which one?"

"Justin Hoffman."

"The football player?"

"Yeah."

"I think he used to date one of the cheerleaders in my squad."

"That guy sure loves eating."

"Nathan, that was rude."

"Oh, come on Peyton. The guy weighs like 400 pounds."

"The guy's an offensive guard! He has to be big."

"I love food."

"We know you do, Tim."

"Are you trying to say I look fat, Nathan?"

"Could you sound more of a girl, Tim?"

"It takes one to know one, _Angela_."

"Hey, you stay out of this, bitch."

"Oh, I don't think so. And don't call Tim fat, Cecil!"

"Oh, will you stop with the whole calling me girls' names? It's getting pretty old."

"Oh, I don't think so, Margaret."

"You're so annoying."

"_You're so annoying."_

"That was the worst imitation I've ever heard. I don't even have a high voice."

"Oh, that's what you think. Don't you ever wonder why I call you by girls' names?"

"Perhaps because, I don't know this is just a guess: you're the devil herself and your assignment on earth is obviously to live with me and annoy the shit out of me until I scratch my own wrists and bleed to death?"

"Close. And since you're still sitting there and talking means that I haven't succeeded yet. So, I guess I'll just have to try more, Carol."

"Stop calling me girls' names!"

"Stop acting like one!"

"Will _both_ of you stop! Just concentrate on your mutual enemy."

"Which is...?"

"The Unimouth!"

"Fine."

"Fine."

It was Thursday noon which meant lunch time for the students at Tree Hill High. Unfortunately Nathan, Haley, Peyton, Jake and Tim found having an appetite very difficult because of a certain couple's PDA.

"Ok, I'm done with this. I can't watch this anymore." Haley finally said and dropped her sandwich on the table. "Lucas! Brooke!" she yelled and poked them both hard a few times. With swollen lips and annoyed looks they turned to look at her.

"What!" Lucas asked irritated of being interrupted.

"Stop assaulting her lips. People are trying to eat here."

"I told you; today's our 1-year-anniversary." Lucas said. "I'm gonna assault her lips so much they'll be bleeding by the end of the day."

"Not very romantic, Lucas." Brooke said.

"Well, you know what I mean." He said and gave her a quick peck.

"Wait, I thought you already had your anniversary?" Haley asked remembering Brooke telling her about it... and the eatable panties she had worn.

"Yeah, well we couldn't figure out which day to celebrate so we decided on both." Brooke said.

"Yeah, I thought it was on Monday because that was one year after we first kissed." Lucas said.

"And I thought it should be today because exactly one year ago we first had se-"

"Sushi!" Lucas yelled interrupting Brooke. "We had sushi! Hey coach!" Lucas then yelled looking over the other's shoulders where Whitey was standing. Everyone turned around to look at Whitey.

"Hey, just wanted to let you know that tonight's practise is canceled." Whitey said with a smirk.

"Why?" Tim asked.

"You need your rest for tomorrow's game." He said. "If you see anyone, let them know." He said and then turned to look at Haley. "I'm gonna need you for about 30 minutes though. We need to go through the stats and make sure everything is in place. It's our home game so we have extra work." He said.

"Yeah, no problem." She said smiling. "See ya after school, coach."

"Bye, everyone." Whitey said and turned around to leave. He then turned back to look at Lucas.

"And Lucas, practise safe sex... Because if you don't, you _will_ impregnate someone. You're a Scott, don't forget that." He said and left. Everyone waited till Whitey had left the cafeteria to burst out laughing.

"Yeah, Lucas. Just because you can reproduce doesn't mean you should." Tim said laughing.

"Hey, not funny." Lucas pouted.

"Dude, that was hilarious." Nathan said.

"Why are you laughing? You're a Scott too."

"But he was only talking to you. He obviously knows I'm smarter than you."

"In which universe?"

"Oh, stop it you too." Brooke said.

"Yeah, at least now we know what to get for you for Christmas." Haley said and everyone but Nathan and Lucas laughed.

"Hales, not funny." Lucas said.

"Yeah, so not funny." Nathan added.

"Oh, quit your whining." Brooke said. "We're just kidding, right."

"Yeah." Peyton said and everyone nodded.

"Of course."

"Except about the Christmas gift." Haley mumbled loud enough for everyone to hear.

"So!" Lucas started changing the subject. "Tomorrow's a pretty important day."

"Yeah, gotta win the game." Jake said.

"So, we gotta win this to make it to the state championship game which is on Saturday?" Peyton asked making sure.

"Yeah and if we lose, it's the last game of the season." Lucas said.

"Which won't happen." Nathan said.

"Hell no." Tim added.

"Never." Jake finished.

All the guys looked at each other sternly and bumped their fists together.

There was a short silence.

"Ok, that was so lame." Brooke said with a smile.

"Yeah, could you be more cliché?" Peyton asked.

"All that's missing is some classical movie music in the background and the narrator's voiceover saying: 'And right there, right then; we knew we would make it. That moment changed our lives forever and we will carry that with us for the rest of our lives." Haley finished with a deep voice and all the girls laughed out loud.

"You are evil. All of you." Lucas said pointing at the girls.

"I told you, man." Nathan said. "Women are the source of all bad, evil and mean."

"Oh, stop being so melodramatic, Lizzie." Haley said calling him a girl's name again which earned her a glare from Nathan.

"Evil. Don't forget that, guys. Pure evil." Nathan said looking at the guys around him.

"You do realize that without women you'd never get laid." Brooke said with a grin.

All the guys looked at each other and then at the girls.

"Baby, have I told you recently how much I love you?" Lucas asked from Brooke.

"Honey, you're the most beautiful woman I know and your hair looks exceptionally curly today." Jake said to Peyton.

All the girls laughed and high fived each other.

"That's weak, guys. Weak." Nathan said glaring at Lucas and Jake.

"Hey, if she won't keep me warm at night, will you?" Lucas asked from Nathan with raised eyebrows.

Nathan scrunched his nose in disgust before turning to look at Brooke.

"Yes, Brooke. Lucas loves you very much."

"I know." She said looking at Lucas with a grin and kissed him.

Everyone else around the table groaned.

"Oh, here we go again." Tim sighed. "Thank you so much for encouraging them, Nathan." he said sarcastically.

"Guys, I just got my appetite back." Haley whined looking at her sandwich longingly before letting it drop on the table from her hands.

Haley suddenly got an unnerving feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew she'd had that feeling before but quite couldn't remember when. She snapped out of her thoughts when Peyton spoke, or more like complained.

"Eew, there's that tongue again." Peyton said closing her eyes.

"That's disgusting." Jake said shaking his head and shielding Peyton's eyes with his hands.

"Unimouth, separate!" Haley said looking at Brooke and Lucas.

"Nice try, Haley." Tim said.

"Unimouth, separate!"

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked.

"Well, since they are acting like animals you'd think they would respond when I call them like you call an animal." Haley explained and they all laughed. She laughed with them happy that she got her mind off of whatever that it was bothering her.

"Yes, but these two here are a very special kind of an animal." Jake started educationally.

"They hunt for a mate 24/7 and when they finally find one, the female usually gets emotionally attached while the male is checking out her friend." Peyton added with a grin while Haley started to laugh.

"Yes, it's a very tricky species this _homo sapiens._" Jake said.

"Also known as _seximus maximus_, in their case." Peyton said pointing at Brooke and Lucas whose lips were still attached to each other. By now, the whole table was laughing at Brooke and Lucas.

"You know, we can hear every word you say." Brooke said detaching her lips from Lucas'.

"Then shouldn't you do something about it?" Peyton asked with a smile.

Lucas and Brooke looked at each other and then the others.

"Nah." They said, shrugged their shoulders at the same time and crashed their lips together while the others groaned yet again.

* * *

"Hey, Scott." Haley yelled while catching up with Nathan. Nathan turned to look at her. 

"What's up, James?" he asked while opening his locker and taking some books out and putting some in. It was finally the end of the school day and Nathan couldn't wait to go home and rest for the next day's game.

"Can you wait half an hour?"

"Umh, let me think." Nathan started and looked at the roof in deep thought.

"It's finally the end of a looong school day. I'm hungry as hell because I missed my lunch because of my horny brother and his crazy girlfriend. I have no practise, shit load of homework and the second most important game of the whole season tomorrow which means I need all the sleep I can get. Now, do I wanna stay here in this shithole for extra 30 minutes?" Nathan rambled and looked at Haley with an unapologetic face. "Don't think so."

"Come on, I have that meeting with Whitey." Haley said. "You could start doing that 'shit load of homework' in the library while I'm gone." Haley said and then smirked. "And in case you don't know where the library is-"

"I know where the goddamm library is. Just come get me as soon as possible. Libraries creep me out." He said and slammed his locker door shut and started to walk to his left.

Haley stayed leaning on his locker with a smirk. Few seconds later Nathan walked back.

"So, where-?"

Haley pointed at her right with a smirk.

"Third floor, B wing."

* * *

"...and I already got the keys from the janitor. I'll make sure both locker rooms are in order before the game." 

"Good job, Haley." Whitey said. They were in his office making sure they were ready for the next day's game.

"And I already e-mailed the updated rooster to the athletic director and the Masonboro's coach."

"Did he e-mail theirs to us?"

"Yes."

"Any changes?"

"Apparently Ashton McQueen didn't hurt his knee as bad as we thought. He's in the starting line-up."

"Oh, he's tough. We need to watch out for him."

"Yeah, the guys are aware of it." Haley said and turned to look up at Whitey. "And Jackson Conley is playing."

"What? I thought he was done with the season."

"As did everyone else. I even called the Masonboro athletic office and they confirmed it. Conley got the green light from the team doctor."

"What the hell is the matter with the doctors in Masonboro? First McQueen and now Conley?"

"Yeah, it sucks. But at least now we get to beat their best team and when they lose they can't whine about the lack of their players." Haley said with a smile.

"You're right." Whitey said, got up and gathered some papers. He looked at Haley carefully.

"Is everything alright, Haley?"

Haley looked at Whitey surprised at his abilities to read her. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair. There was no point in denying the unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I just have this feeling… You know that calm-before-the-storm feeling?" Haley started. "Like something bad is going to happen. I have that." Haley said. Whitey looked at Haley worried.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, I'm probably imagining everything anyways." Haley said reassuringly. "Do you need anything else?" Haley asked after a short silence.

"No, I think we're done here." He said and moved towards the door. Haley looked at the watch.

"Are you sure? Nathan doesn't expect me in another 15 minutes."

"Just make sure that boy sleeps well and takes his vitamins. Tomorrow is the most important game so far." Whitey said and held the door open for Haley. "And Haley." Whitey started. Haley turned to look at him.

"Take care of yourself." he said. Haley nodded her head and they walked out together. Haley noticed Tim and her tutee Greg sitting on the benches in the locker room.

"See you tomorrow, coach." Haley said and went to sit with the guys while Whitey just waved them goodbye before leaving.

"Hey, Hales." Tim said when he saw her walking towards him.

"Sup?" Greg nodded towards her.

"Nothing, just got done with my meeting with Whitey. What's up?"

"Just finished playing some ball." Tim said.

"Alright." Haley said and turned to look at Greg. "Hey, I actually had to talk to you about something, Greg."

"Whaddap."

"Well, I have to cancel our tomorrow's tutoring session because of the basketball game. There's just too much stuff I have to take care off before the game."

"Whatever." He said uninterested. Haley rolled her eyes.

"But I made you this practise quiz so you can still study." Haley said and handed him a piece of paper. "And I have about 15 minutes now so if you want some help..." Haley offered.

"Yeah, whatever." He mumbled.

"Look, guys. I gotta go find Nate." Tim said interrupting the two.

"He's in the library." Haley said.

"Really? I didn't even know he knew where it was." Tim said with a grin.

"He didn't." Haley said and waved Tim goodbye.

When Tim was gone, Haley turned to look at Greg who was still looking at the piece of paper.

"So, I take that 'whatever' as a yes." Haley said and sat down on the bench next to him. She was used to dealing with asshole jocks who took everything for granted.

"Alright, let's get started." She said trying to sound cheerful.

* * *

"Tim! Over here!" Nathan yelled when he saw Tim enter the quiet library. The whole room 'shhh'-ed him while he just rolled his eyes. He had been looking for an excuse to not do his homework the whole 15 minutes he had sat there. 

"What's up?" Tim asked while sitting next to him.

"Nothing. Just doing some homework." He said pointing at the books in front of him.

"Sure." Tim said smiling. He knew that there was no way that Nathan could concentrate on homework the day before the game that determined if he would play for state championship or not.

"So, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked interested.

"I wanted to let you know that I'm having a party at my house, the day after tomorrow, on Saturday."

"But we don't even know if we will win state. We don't even know if we will make it to state." Nathan said.

"Doesn't matter." Tim said with a smirk. "If we lose tomorrow or on Saturday, we can just get angry and wasted. If we win both, we'll still get wasted but none of that angry, aggressive shit." He said.

"Sounds good. Your parents gonna be gone?"

"Dad's taking Shari, the gold digging little whore, to a yet another cruise." Tim muttered. It was no secret that he despised his step mother.

"Well, at least you got the house to yourself." Nathan said.

"Exactly."

"So wait, how did you know I was here? I doubt the library is the first place you'd look for me." Nathan added with a smirk.

"Oh, Haley told me. I ran into her in the locker room. She had just gotten done with her meeting with Whitey."

"Why didn't she come with you here?"

"She stayed there with Greg."

"Greg Smith?" Nathan asked narrowing his eyes in jealousy.

"Yeah." Tim answered and smiled when he saw Nathan's jaw clench in jealousy.

"Relax, she was just tutoring him."

"I knew that." Nathan said quickly trying to convince Tim that he didn't care.

"Sure, you did."

* * *

"... so as long as you remember to multiply the last part by x, you'll be fine." Haley finished. 

"Ok." He said.

Haley looked at the watch on her wrist.

"Listen, I gotta get going." she said.

"Yeah, sure." He said uninterested and started to gather his papers and books.

"Ok then. See you next Monday." Haley said and started to walk towards the door while Greg started to change his clothes. He took his shirt off and set it on the bench. He saw a piece of paper on the bench and realized it wasn't his.

"Hey, Haley!" Haley turned around to look at Greg holding a piece of paper. "Is this yours?"

Haley saw that it was the rooster she had shown Whitey. She walked back with a smile.

"Thanks, I don't know what I would've done without this." She said and reached to take the paper from Greg's hands.

"Yeah, no problem."

* * *

"...and since I'm inviting juniors too, I think we should buy 2 more kegs." Tim finished his rant. Nathan was trying his best to do his homework while Tim rambled about the party. 

"Please, man. I'm trying to do my homework here." Nathan pleaded.

"Never thought I'd hear you say that." Tim said with a grin.

"Very funny. Maybe you should become a comedi-" he stopped when he felt something vibrate in his pocket. He took his cell phone out and was about to press 'cancel' when he realized the call was coming from the tattoo place.

"I gotta take this." Nathan said and went to stand behind some book shelves while looking around to make sure no one saw him.

"Hello?" Nathan answered quietly.

"Is this Nathan?"

"Yeah." he answered.

"Hey, this is Joe from Tattoo place. You had some questions about a customer I had about a month ago?"

"Yeah, your boss probably told you all I told him. So, I need to know everything you remember about that guy."

"I don't know if I'm much help. He got a phrase tattooed over his chest."

"Which phrase?"

"'What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger'."

"What did he look like?" Nathan asked.

"Blonde hair, athletic build... Pretty much your basic jock."

"Okay." Nathan said disappointed. "Do you know his name? Did he pay with a credit card?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope, plain old cash. Sorry, man."

"Is there anything else you remember?" Nathan asked.

"Well, he was pretty arrogant. Kept talking about all the chicks he's hooked up with. Oh, and he had one of those letter jackets on."

"You mean a lettermen's jacket?"

"Yeah."

"What letters did he have? What sports does he play?"

"Can't remember. I didn't pay much attention. Sorry, man." He said.

"Shit..." Nathan said annoyed. He was getting nowhere.

"All I remember is that it was blue with white sleeves." The guy said.

Nathan almost dropped his phone in shock. That was Tree Hill High's school jacket. He would know, he owned one.

"You sure?" he asked with shaky hands.

"Yeah."

"Thanks for calling." Nathan said and shut the phone. He went back to where Tim was.

"Who was it?" Tim asked.

"The tattoo place." He said.

"Well, what did they say? Do you know who did it?" he asked. Nathan had told him about going there earlier so he knew how important that call must have been.

"No, I don't know the guy." Nathan said. "But apparently he used to go to Tree Hill High." He said looking at Tim.

"You're shitting me." Tim said shocked.

"The asshole was wearing his letter jacket."

"Do you know who he is?"

"Nope. I have no name, no age, nothing. He probably graduated few years ago because it was a college party. Joe didn't remember which sports were on his jacket."

"So, we're looking for a male letter athlete, blonde hair, goes to Duke and graduated from Tree Hill High."

"And has a tattoo on his chest." Nathan added.

"What was the tattoo, anyways?" Tim asked curiously.

"'What doesn't kill me, makes me stronger.'" Nathan said in disgust. Tim dropped the pen he was holding.

"What!"

Nathan repeated the phrase again and when Tim still looked shocked, Nathan snapped his fingers.

"Tim! What's the matter?"

"I know who he is." Tim whispered with a pale voice.

"What? Who!"

"Greg Smith."

* * *

"Hey, Haley!" Haley turned around to look at Greg holding a piece of paper. "Is this yours?" 

Haley saw that it was the rooster she had shown Whitey. She walked back with a smile.

"Thanks, I don't know what I would've done without this." She said and reached to take the paper from Greg's hands.

"Yeah, no problem."

Suddenly her eyes stopped at something on his chest. A scar and a tattoo. She froze on her spot without being able to take her eyes of this chest.

Haley stared at the scar and suddenly got a vivid flashback to the night of the party.

_She put all her energy and adrenaline into trying to keep him away but all she managed to do was scratch his chest. He yelped in pain and backhanded her hard before taking a hold of her arms and forcing them above her head._

Haley's face went pale and the paper she was holding, fell on the floor. She then looked at the tattoo on his chest and remembered the conversation she had had with Nathan the night he had woken her up from her nightmare.

"_You remember what he looked like?" Nathan asked hopefully._

"_His face was blurred but I think he had blonde hair. I think he had a tattoo or something on his chest... At least in my dream he has. I don't know, it was all very blurry... I guess my subconscious is trying to block it out." She said._

Haley looked at Greg's blonde hair and couldn't realize she hadn't made the connection before.

"Oh my god." Haley whispered and took a shaky step back. She got another flashback, this time to when she was in the kitchen fixing herself the infamous drink.

"_And more coke than rum this time…" Haley mumbled and turned around to put the coke and the rum back. She then grabbed the cup and took a big sip. She greeted a blonde guy next to her who was staring at her intently._

Haley looked at Greg panicking. She realized that the reason she had greeted him at the party wasn't because she had been polite, it was because she knew him.

"You okay?" Greg asked with a confused voice. He knew he had a pretty hot body and him being shirtless usually had an affect on the ladies, but Haley was acting almost the opposite. It looked like she was about to be sick.

"Yeah." Haley managed to say and swallowed hard. "I really gotta go now." She whispered and started to walk fast towards the door.

Greg looked down at his chest in confusion. He then noticed the scar and realized that Haley remembered. He looked up at Haley who was almost at the door. He took three fast steps and grabbed her before she was out the door.

"You're not going anywhere." He said and threw her against the wall. She fell down on the ground in pain. He looked around to make sure there were no one at the gym. It was empty just like the locker room. He then locked the door, threw the key away and turned to look at Haley.

"You really shouldn't have remembered anything, Haley."

Haley looked at Greg with a panicked look. Right then she knew when she'd had that calm-before-the-storm feeling before. It was the day she almost got rapes. She swallowed when she realized something.

The calm was over.

* * *

So let the bashing begin... Kidding, but I do wanna know what you think of the chapter. Oh, and was it too predictable that Greg was the attacker? I tried to give hints but I think some might've been too clear. Anyways, 'till next time. :) 


	14. Chapter 13

Hey, peeps. :) Thanks for all the awesome, wonderful, amazing reviews. Please, keep them coming. :) Here's chapter 13, hope you enjoy...

**If you can't handle or just don't like to read violence, I suggest to skip this chapter or just read the last paragraphs.**

Chapter 13

"You really shouldn't have remembered anything, Haley." Greg said after throwing the key to the door away and making sure the place was empty.

Haley was lying on the ground trying to catch her breath. She noticed him coming towards her before getting up quickly and starting to run away. He managed to get a hold of her hair but she kicked him hard on the shin. Haley took advantage of the few seconds he let go of her hair and went to try the door. She knew it was locked but tried to open it anyways.

Soon Greg was in his feet again. After noticing that Haley ran to the chaotic side of the room where all the lockers were. Because of some reconstruction in the huge locker room, the tall lockers were scattered around making the space seem like a maze. Haley ran frantically in the midst of the lockers trying to lose him while dodging some of the open locker doors. She stopped behind a few lockers in the middle of the room to catch her breath.

She leaned on the locker behind her and tried to breathe as quietly as possible. Her whole body was tense and her hands were shaking madly. Few tears threatened to spill but she quickly bit her lip to keep them from coming. _Don't you fucking cry! You need to be strong._

"There's no point in running, bitch! The front door is locked, there's no other way out and this place is deserted! You're trapped!"

Haley could tell that he was about 5 feet to her left behind a row of lockers. She quickly circled the lockers that were behind her and started to walk as quiet as possible away from him while looking back to make sure he wasn't following. Unfortunately while paying attention to her back, she never noticed the open locker door in front of her. She hit it and the door slammed shut. Haley closed her eyes and silently cursed herself and hoped he hadn't heard it.

"Busted!" he yelled from somewhere close and started to run towards the noise.

But of course he had. And to make matters worse, Haley's cell phone that was in her pocket started to ring at the same time. Haley quickly took it and cursed herself for not trying to call anyone earlier. The caller id showed it was Lucas. She quickly hit 'answer'.

"Luke! Please, help me!" Haley yelled while running among the lockers as fast as possible.

She knew Greg could hear her so she needed to get away as fast as possible. She held the cell phone in her ear and heard Lucas yelling something to her. Haley turned around and saw that Greg was getting closer and closer.

"Luke, I'm in the boys' locker room! Help!" she yelled in the phone one last time before turning around and throwing the hard, small object at Greg as hard as possible.

The cell phone hit him in the head and he stopped to hold his head in pain for a second before looking up again. But that second was enough for Haley because when he looked up, she wasn't standing in front of him anymore.

He took a few steps forward, walked past some lockers and turned to look right where the team doctor's office was. He smirked evilly when he noticed the door closing slowly. He took a few quick steps and pushed the door open as hard as possible.

Haley was in the other side of the room in the process of trying to open the windows when he heard Greg's voice.

"Well, well, well."

Haley spun around to see Greg at the door way and froze to her spot. He was standing in front of the only door in the room. The windows behind her were not going to open. She thought about breaking the window with a chair but she knew she could never make it out on time. She was trapped.

"What the hell do you want from me?" Haley yelled. The tears were very close again.

"I need to make sure no one knows about last Friday." He said without moving from the door. "And today, obviously." He added with a smirk.

"Just let me go and I'll promise I won't say anything." Haley pleaded.

"I don't really believe you."

"I promise, Greg. You don't wanna do this. You have everything ahead of you. Graduation, college, everything! You're throwing it all away. So please, just let me go and I promise I won't say anything." She begged.

"How dumb do you think I am?" he asked.

"You're not dumb! Please, just let me go. I mean, what's your plan anyways? Kill me? Tim saw you here! You're going to jail if anything happens to me." Haley tried to reason him.

"I'm already going to jail because of last Friday."

"So, you wanna kill me? Doing life for murder is a bit different than few years for attempted rape." Haley said. Greg smirked at her.

"Who said anything about killing you? Since I'm already going to jail, I just wanna finish what I started last Friday. You see, if I'm going to jail, it sure as hell won't be for _attempted_ rape." he said with a grin.

Haley looked at him not believing what she had just heard. _He must be the stupidest person I've ever met,_ Haley thought.

"You know, Haley. You're pretty hot. I can understand what Nathan sees in you." He said looking at her from head to toe. _Not a good day to wear a mini skirt_, Haley thought. She quickly pulled her halter neck top a bit higher to minimize the cleavage.

"You're crazy." Haley said trying not to burst out crying.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Nothing..." Haley whispered.

"Just look at me. I'm hot." Greg said and pointed at his six pack. He was still shirtless and wearing a pair of basketball shorts. He then pointed at Haley's legs and then her whole body. "You're hot. What the hell is your problem?"

And he was right. Greg Smith was your picture boy of an arrogant and dumb but also gorgeous and sexy jock. He had a perfect six pack, huge biceps and that messed up surfer hair every girl loved. And yes, like most arrogant, good looking jocks, he also never had a problem scoring some dumb freshman who wanted to get to know the 'cool' people. But for Haley, none of Greg's physique mattered. Because ever since she saw a certain brunette basketball star shirtless, no one else even compared.

"It's because of Nathan, right." Greg said. "I've seen you with him. Fighting and flirting... What the hell does the guy have that I don't? A third fucking nipple?" he asked. Apparently he couldn't understand the fact that any girl would choose some other guy over him.

"Why me?" Haley asked changing the subject from Nathan to herself. "I mean, there were a million girls at that party who were already wasted and for some god forsaken reason, probably more than willing to sleep with you. Why me?"

"You just happened to be at the right place at the right time." He said. "And I was still mad at you for turning me down and making fun of my flirting."

"Your what?"

"Flirting."

Haley got a flashback of a conversation she had with Lucas few days earlier when he had asked about her tutees.

"_Today, like all the other Tuesdays along with Mondays and Fridays, I have Gregory Smith a.k.a. the most annoying jock in this state. The only thing he talks about is all the freshmen he's hooked up with and how stupid I am for not 'sexing it up' with him."_

"_He's really that bad?" Lucas asked immediately protectively._

"_Even though I have told him every time that 'I have lost my number, can I get yours' –line, really doesn't work. Jason, another tutor, was supposed to switch her 'Sweaty Fisherman' for Gregory but backed out. That bitch... Not that I blame her. Every minute I spend with him is pure torture from my part and it takes every cell in my body not to bitch-slap him." Haley said._

"_Do you want me to have a talk with him?" he asked seriously._

"_No, he's been actually acting different lately. Hasn't made any annoying remarks. He's finally concentrating on the learning part."_

"So, that's why you stopped flirting with me." Haley realized.

"What?" he asked confused.

"I always wondered why you suddenly stopped flirting and actually concentrated on the learning. It happened the first time I tutored you after the party. You must've been afraid I would remember something so you decided to lay low, play it safe."

"Ding ding ding! Give the girl a prize!" he said sarcastically.

Haley looked at him and sighed before starting in a quiet voice.

"You know, I've been having this dream, well more like a nightmare almost every night since the party. And every time after I have woken up I've remembered a bit more about that night. I actually got as far as remembering your tattoo and your blonde hair. But what always bothered me was the fact that I greeted you in the kitchen. Even though it was a small 'hey', almost more like a nod but that always made me wonder. I was just too stupid and naive to think that it was because I knew you."

"Touching." He said dryly and took a step forward. "But I'm getting tired of the chit chat." He said rudely and moved from the door towards her.

He started to circle the table to where Haley was but she started to circle it the other way. They did that for few laps and when Greg got sick of it, he sighed in frustration and quickly jumped on the desk in order to attack from above. But before he could attack her, Haley quickly pulled him hard by his ankles and he fell on the ground with a thud.

Without checking to see if he got up from the floor, she ran from the room as fast as possible and slammed the door shut. She immediately went to the main door that led to the gym, to freedom. She tried to pull it as hard as possible but it wasn't moving. She then remembered him locking the door and throwing the key somewhere.

"Key, key, key, key... Please, god, let me find the key." She mumbled while frantically searching for the key. She looked from the floor, behind some lockers nearby. She then started to bang on the front door as hard as possible.

"Somebody help! Is anyone out there! Help!" when no one answered Haley turned to look for the key. She looked around the room quickly but suddenly her eyes stopped at the doctor's office. The door was open. She was certain she had slammed it shut on her way out.

"Oh god." she managed to whisper before hearing someone approach her from her back. Instinctively she turned around and shielded her head with her hands. Greg had launched himself at her. His body weight was too much for her and they fell on the ground, him on top of her.

"Oh, just like we were meant to be." Greg said laughing maniacally.

Haley struggled as much as she could, throwing herself from side to side and trying to slap him as much as possible. He managed to get a grip of her arms and pinned them above her head. Haley did the last thing she could and that was to knee him in the balls. Since he was lying on top of her, she couldn't really move her lower body. She finally managed to move her hip to the side and knee him.

Greg grunted in pain and let go of her hands. Remembering what Lucas had taught her about self defence, she used the advantage of having her hands freed to hit his nose hard with her palm and smiling satisfied when she heard the load crack of a broken bone. She rolled on her side and started to get up. Screaming in pain he managed to grab her ankles before she could get away from him. She fell hard on the floor, knees first. With bruised knees she got up again and ran frantically in the middle of the lockers to hide.

"You bitch! You broke my nose! You can forget about making out of this room alive! You're dead, James! You hear me, dead!" Greg screamed in pain while holding his nose.

Holding her injured, bloody knees she sat down behind some lockers. _Okay, Haley. You need to think straight now. Deep breath... You gotta be smart. Running isn't obviously working so you have to hide. Lucas has called the cops already so just lay low until they get here. Just hide!_

She sat still, holding her breath for few seconds, listening carefully to any sound made in the room. She heard faint steps somewhere in the right side of her so Haley started to walk the her left until she came to Whitey's office. She looked around before opening the door, slipping inside and shutting it as quietly as possible. She slowly locked the door and quickly crawled under Whitey's desk making sure she couldn't been seen through the windows that were next to the door.

She took the phone from the table and with shaky hands dialled 911. As quietly and quickly as possible she told the operator everything. The man on the other line said that they had already received a call about the same thing. _Probably from Lucas_, Haley thought. He also told her to try to hide until the cops came which shouldn't be more than 10 minutes. Haley hung up the phone and let herself lean on the back of Whitey's desk.

It felt like hours she sat there, under Whitey's desk hugging her knees with her arms but in reality it was less than two minutes. Haley's mind was going overdrive. Her ears were so perked that she was starting to hear sounds everywhere. She took a deep breath and told herself to stay calm. It was almost over.

Just when she thought it was finally over, she heard someone try to open Whitey's door. Her whole body went tense and her breath caught up in her throat. She didn't move a muscle in fear it might give away that she was there. She thought that Greg could just think that Whitey locked his office after him.

"I know you're there, sweetheart!" he yelled through the door. Haley shut her eyes and bid her lip to keep herself from screaming or crying.

"There's blood on the door handle." He yelled. Haley looked at her hands which had dried blood from wiping her knees. _At least the door is locked,_ Haley thought.

"And being the smart little girl you are, you locked the door. Too bad the room you're in has windows, and the room _I'm_ in has lots of chairs that can be thrown through the window."

Haley opened her eyes in horror and stood up. It didn't matter if he saw her or not, he obviously already knew she was in the room. She didn't see anyone in front of the window at first but then Greg appeared in front of the window carrying a heavy looking chair. When he saw Haley standing in the room, he stopped.

"Hi." He said with a smile and waved at her.

"Hey." Haley, not knowing what to do except buy time, said and waved back. Greg stopped to look at her with raised eyebrows.

"You really are a geek." He said before throwing the chair through the glass.

Haley snapped out of her shock and duck down so she wouldn't be injured by the small pieces of glass. She got up and looked at the door. Greg was jumping over where the window had been. He landed on his feet inside the room and kicked some glass away from the floor.

"Give it up, James. You're so dead!" He said with a mean smirk.

"Please, don't do this." Haley begged in a quiet voice while backing down until her back hit the wall.

"It's too late. If you hadn't been such a fucking female Rambo about this, I would've let you live..."

"Please!" Haley begged but Greg was ignoring it.

"...but being the little bitch you are, I'm gonna kill you. I'm already going to jail. It doesn't matter for how long."

"You're ruining your life. You can still have a future. Please, Greg." Haley pleaded.

"I know I'm dumb enough to need tutoring but I'm not dumb enough to let you leave this room." Greg said. "So, say your final prayer."

"Please..." she said quietly. She couldn't help the one tear rolling down her cheek.

"Aww, are you crying? How sad." He said sarcastically. Haley quickly wiped it away.

Pleading was obviously not working. It was time for Haley to change strategies. She just needed to hang on until someone came to her rescue. It was bad enough that she was probably going to get killed but now Greg was just making fun of her.

Haley narrowed her eyes in anger.

"You know what, Greg. I'm getting pretty sick and tired of you." She hissed.

"What?" he asked shocked. He was expecting her to plead or cry, certainly not give him attitude.

"Ever since I started tutoring you, nothing good has come. You're the stupidest tutee I've ever had and that's including Michael Crow who dropped out of high school after 5 years never making past junior class; just to end up in jail because of trying to rob a bank. With a water gun!"

"You better shut your mouth right now." he said but Haley was nowhere near finishing.

She knew that making him agitated would only make him angrier and more hostile but this way she could at least buy some time. And if it came down to her losing the battle, she was not going to go down easily. Her nickname wasn't Hurricane-Haley for nothing. And if she was going down, she would at least make as much damage as possible.

"And you know-" Haley started with a sarcastic voice "-the whole 'Europe is one sweet ass country' remark you made, has become a _legend_ amongst the tutors. The other tutors even console their tutees by telling them that story and saying 'At least you're not as dumb as Greg Smith'. I mean Jesus Christ! You even tried to spell passion with an H!"

"Shut. Up." he said between clenched teeth.

"And you know what your nick name is amongst all the tutors? 'Forrest Gump'. The only difference is that your I.Q is lower than his!" Haley said with a smirk while leaning her hands on the desk in front of her.

"Shut the fuck up!" he yelled but Haley was enjoying giving him a piece of her mind way too much to stop.

"Ever since I started to tutor you, you've been nothing but an asshole, a complete loser and a whiny little bitch. You've been flirting with me every minute and when I turn you down, you try to _rape_ me? And even then you didn't succeed. How fucking pathetic is that! You can't even get pussy when the girl's _unconscious_! You must be the most pathetic little bitch I've evr met and that's exactly what you're gonna become in prison. Someone's bitch. And you know why? Because you're a loser. Always has been and always will."

"SHUT UP!" he finally yelled and ran towards Haley.

Him attacking her was exactly what Haley wanted. Because while she had trash talked him, she had taken his attention away from her hands which had grabbed the nearest object from Whitey's desk that could be used as a weapon. So when Greg lunged himself at her, Haley stabbed him with a letter opener.

He stared at the letter opener that was sticking from his side right under his left ribs. But instead of finally defeating from the battle because of weakening too much, he somehow got an extra surge of adrenaline. With his right hand he took a strong hold of Haley's throat so she couldn't breath. She tried to pull his hand with both of her hands, but he was too strong. Never breaking eye contact or the hold from her throat, he pulled the letter opener from his side with his left hand.

He waved the bloody letter opener in front of her face with a malicious grin before using the back of the same hand to slap her hard.

"Any other tricks up your sleeve?" he whispered to her ear. Haley started to suffer from the lack of oxygen and Greg could see her face starting to change color.

"Oh, am I holding your throat too tight? Let me do something about that." He said and tightened the hold around her neck. Still waving the letter opener in front of her face, Haley was sure this was the end of her short life.

"You think I'm gonna stab you just like you stabbed me?" He whispered to her ear and licked her cheek. Even in the middle of struggling for air, she shuddered in disgust when his tongue touched her cheek.

"Oh, stabbing you would be too easy. Not to even mention too slow. I wanna see the look on your eyes when that white light finally takes you away." He whispered and kissed her cheek slowly because of being the little creep he was.

He threw the letter opener away and put both of his hands around her throat and started to lift her. When she couldn't feel her feet on the ground anymore, she thought they were numb but then realized that they weren't touching the floor anymore. He was holding her by her throat so her feet were few inches from the floor.

_Oh my god, this is not happening. I'm too young to die! There are so many words unsaid! I wanna tell Nathan... I wanna tell my whole family how much I love them and miss them. I wanna tell Lucas how awesome he's always been. I wanna tell Nathan... I wanna tell Brooke and Peyton how much I appreciate them and I wanna tell Tim how smart he is and how far he's gonna go in life. And I wanna tell Nathan... Goddammit Haley, can't you even say the words in your head? Even when you're about to die! I wanna tell Nathan I LOVE HIM! I fucking love him!_

If she had paid more attention to her surroundings, she would have heard the distant banging from the door that led from the gym to the locker room. She would've heard the door finally being broken and some people running frantically around the locker room screaming her name. And finally she would have heard the door to Whitey's office being broken and two guys running inside.

She didn't hear any of that but she saw everything. Almost like in slow motion, Haley saw Nathan and Tim breaking the door, Nathan ripping Greg off of Haley and throwing him against the wall before hitting him.

Nathan turned to look at Haley who had fallen on the ground when Greg had let go of her. She was on her knees on the floor gasping for air.

"Tim, watch him." Nathan said. Tim went to Greg to make sure he stayed down while Nathan moved in front of Haley and squatted down so he was at her level.

"Hey, baby are you ok?" he whispered while wondering if he could touch her or not. She looked so delicate and broken that he was afraid that a single hug could break her for good.

"Yes." She whispered knowing it was what Nathan needed to hear. He softly wiped the tear from her cheek with his thumb and let his hand rest on her cheek.

"Nate." Tim said. Nathan turned to look at Tim who was pointing at Greg. Greg was spitting blood and cursing while finally getting the strength to get up from the floor. And he wasn't looking too happy. Nathan's fingers curled into a ball wanting nothing more than to beat Greg again. He turned to look at Haley who was looking at her intently.

"Are you ok?" Nathan asked. If Haley said no, there was no way he would leave her side because even though Greg deserved a beating, Haley deserved Nathan near her more.

"Kick his ass." Haley whispered. Nathan looked at Haley who was finally starting to get the color back to her face.

"Are you sur-"

"Do it." Haley growled glaring at Greg. Nathan kissed her softly on the forehead and got up.

"Watch her." He said to Tim without taking his eyes off of Greg.

"Whatcha gonna go now, Nate-boy?" Greg asked with a bloody grin. Without stopping his pace Nathan walked right in front of him and hit him hard on the face. He stumbled back and Nathan looked at the tattoo on his chest, 'what doesn't kill me, makes me stronger'.

"Oh, is that what you think?" Nathan growled. "Here's a new motto: What doesn't kill you, hurts like shit." He said and hit him again. Not expecting Greg to have so much energy left, he couldn't stop the fist that connected with his jaw. _Asshole must be running on pure adrenaline._ Nathan thought while returning the hit.

Haley and Tim were sitting on the side watching the fight. After a pretty nasty hit from Greg, Tim was about to get up and go to his friend's help but Haley stopped him.

"He needs to do this by himself." Haley said strongly even though she was still feeling light headed. "Besides, does it look like he's losing?" Haley asked pointing at them.

Nathan was hitting Greg with all his power and if it weren't for the two cops, a young rookie and an older officer, that busted through the place and separated them, Nathan might've killed him. Or at least given him a brain injury. Which probably wouldn't have made a difference to his idiotic presence.

Haley sat in shock her mouth open a bit when the cops pulled Nathan from Tim. They were both yelling insults at each other and when the cops started to cuff them both, Haley stood up.

"No, stop! Don't cuff him!" she yelled pointing at Nathan.

Up until then, the cops hadn't really paid attention on her other than making sure she was alive. The cops took a long look at her for the first. She was biting her lip hard, even though it was already bleeding from the side, to stop herself from crying and she had her arms crossed over her chest protectively. Her hair was a mess, her knees were bloody and she had some bruises and cuts on her arms and legs. Her hands, even though they were crossed over her chest, were cut from the glass that was all over the office floor and they were shaking so violently that her whole body was trembling. But what shocked them the most, was the two very clear handprints around her throat.

"We received two emergency calls about an assault." The older cop, who was holding Greg, said.

"It was him." Haley said pointing first at Greg. She then pointed at Nathan and Tim. "These two came here only few minutes ago. They saved my life." She whispered. The rookie who was holding Nathan, released him and went to stand by Greg. Nathan immediately went to stand next to Haley and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"What's this?" the older cop asked when he noticed the stabbing wound on Greg's side. He turned to look at Nathan who just shrugged. It was the first time he saw the wound too.

"I stabbed him with a letter opener." Haley said. The cops looked at her surprised while Nathan kissed her temple proudly.

"The ambulance is on it's way so you can all get some medical care. Then we're gonna take your statements." The older cop said. Haley, Tim and Nathan all nodded in understanding.

"Any idea why he tried to kill you?" the curious rookie asked while the older cop glared at him. It wasn't their place to ask.

Nathan and Tim looked at Haley questioningly wondering if she was going to tell them about the previous weekend.

"He drugged me and tried to rape me last weekend." Haley said as strongly as possible. "I didn't remember it was him until now." She finished. Nathan hugged her proudly that she was being so strong.

The cops started to drag Greg away.

"You have the right to remain silent..."

--------------

"... and then he threw the chair through Whitey's window. I tried to talk to him to buy some time..."

"... then Tim said he knew who had the tattoo and we realized that Haley was alone with the asshole..."

"... few months ago right when he got the tattoo, he was bragging about it to pretty much anyone who had patience enough to listen to him so that's how I knew he had that..."

Haley, Nathan and Tim were all giving their statements to the cops. They were still in the locker room surrounded by detectives, officers and doctors. Whitey had come back and the principal was talking to some detectives.

"... and then the two cops came in and the rest you know." Haley finished in a quiet, monotone voice and took a deep breath.

"Thank you. We're still gonna need your statement about last Friday." Claire, the female detective, said. Another cop walked up to them.

"Oh, you're not gonna believe this." He said to Claire.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Apparently the coach whose office that is, had installed security cameras in there because of thinking that some of the construction workers stole from him."

"So, we have everything on tape?" Claire asked surprised.

"With audio."

"So, we have a water proof case. This just made my job so much easier."

"Also, are you done with taking the statement?" the male cop asked. "There's a young man, who apparently called the 911, who's been bugging us for the past 45 minutes wanting to see you." The man said to Haley. "Is it okay to let him here?"

"Lucas? Sure." Haley said rubbing her head. She was still in some sort of shock of the whole situation.

"You okay?" the man asked. Haley lifted her head to look at him. She wanted nothing more than to scream 'I just almost got raped and killed. Do you _think_ I'm okay'.

Instead she only nodded her head.

"I'm alive." Haley said quietly. Claire sent the man to get Lucas before turning to look at Haley again.

"We couldn't reach your parents from your house. Is there any other place we could call?" The detective asked.

"They're out of town, I'll call them." Haley said and bit her lip again. The whole not crying thing was starting to get harder and harder.

"Is there anything you want? Soda? Some food?" she asked.

"No thanks." Haley said in that quiet monotone voice again. The woman looked at her worried.

"You know, the school and the state offer crisis counselling. I would like you to attend few meetings." Haley snapped her head towards her.

"I'm fine." She said through clenched teeth implying her to drop the subject. The detective saw Lucas walking towards them. She gave Haley a card.

"Well, if you change your mind, here are the dates and the places for the meetings. Take care, Haley." She said and got up when Lucas got to her. Haley stood up and set the card on the chair before turning around to hug Lucas tightly.

"Oh my god, Haley." Lucas said when he saw her bruised body. Haley just hugged him tighter and tried to muffle the sob that escaped her lips.

She had always found something soothing in Lucas. Maybe it was his way of making things alright or being there for her every single time she needed it or maybe it was his mere presence. Whatever it was, it had an impact on Haley. She couldn't hold it all in anymore and started to sob in his chest.

"He was just so... he wanted to rape me... and kill me... he tried to choke me... he locked the door... I tried to buy time trash talking him... he was so mad... I fought back, I mean I kicked him, scratched him, threw him with a cell phone... I stabbed him with a letter opener and I even did that whole palm against the nose thing... I did everything you taught me, Luke... he got up every time... I was so scared..." she said between sobs. Lucas hugged her tightly, whispering soothing words on her ear.

Nathan, who had just finished giving his statement saw Haley practically breaking down in Lucas' arms. First he thought about leaving the two be, letting Lucas console her but he then realized that she needed all of her friends. Nathan looked for the nearest officer and asked him to get Brooke, Peyton and Jake from the gym which was pretty much filled with curious students, reporters and concerned parents.

Nathan then went to Haley and started to rub her back soothingly. Haley looked up to see Nathan and started to sob harder. She threw her arms around the two Scott brothers, hugged them and just let it all out.

When Brooke, Peyton and Jake joined the group along with Tim who had finished his statement, they all sat down and Haley started to tell them everything what had happened from the beginning. Every now and then someone always reached out to hug her and comfort her.

Claire Hawkins, the female detective who had taken Haley's statement, looked at the group with a smile. She reached to grab the card she had given Haley and ripped it in half. It was obvious Haley didn't need counselling. She had her friends.

And as long as she would have them, she would be just fine.

----------

So, there you go. :) Some might wonder why I didn't just skip the whole action part and have Nathan just kick his ass. Instead I had that whole cat-and-mouse game. I guess I really just wanted Haley to fight for her own life and shoe everyone that she's stronger than they think. And besides I have never written an action scene before so I can't wait for your reviews. :) Constructive criticism is very much appreciated. :) I don't know when I'm gonna be able to update, might be more than a week but should be less than two. :)

-Fes-


	15. Chapter 14

Hey, everyone and thanks for all the wonderful reviews. I've never gotten so many reviews from any chapter before. THANK YOU! Anyways, sorry it took longer than normally to update. Hopefully the length of the chapter makes up for it. :) Don't forget to review. :)

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Chapter 14

"Shit..." Haley mumbled while looking around the silent gym. You'd think that a place that big would have to be totally empty to be that quiet. But no, the gym was anything but empty. It was actually packed with people and they were all staring at her like she had two heads.

It was definitely Friday night.

It was one week after the frat party where it had all started and one day after the famous locker room incident that had almost killed Haley. All she wanted to do was forget the whole thing and move on with her life but unfortunately it wasn't going to happen any time soon because of everyone knowing what had happened to her. Apparently word did travel fast.

Haley had spent the night at the hospital at the persuasion of the doctors and her friends. They were all still worried about her and wanted to make sure there were no side affects to her almost being choked to death. Nathan, Lucas, Brooke, Peyton, Jake and Tim all spent the night at the hospital with Haley just like they had a week ago. The little tutor inside Haley had tried to get them to go to school on Friday but they had kindly declined.

Haley had called her parents early Friday morning and told them everything. They had promised to catch the first flight from LAX. Haley had told them to not leave their RV there and instead drive it back home. She explained that she was doing much better and that her friends were looking after her so few extra days didn't matter.

After a lot of persuasion her parents had finally agreed after making her promise to call them every day and to go have dinner and spend the night at Karen's so she could make her own assessment whether Haley was ok or not and then report it back to Haley's parents. Lydia and Jimmy had also talked to Lucas and Nathan and had made them both promise to look after her or they would sic Haley's brothers on them. Needless to say they both promised to protect her with their lives.

After calling her parents, Haley somehow had first managed to persuade the doctors to let her leave the hospital and then her friends to take her to the game.

Since Brooke and Peyton had to be with the other cheerleaders while Nathan, Lucas, Jake and Tim were with the basketball players, she didn't really care to go to sit on her own on the stands until it was necessary, knowing everyone would just ask questions or pity her.

So, she had decided to hang out with the team in the locker room until the last minute. Luckily the boys' locker room was still a crime scene so they had to use the girls' locker room instead while the away team had to change in a nearby class room that they had turned to a temporary locker room.

She shuddered at the thought of having to go back to boys' locker room.

"You ready to go out there?" Whitey had asked her few minutes before the game.

"I need few more minutes. I gotta do something. But you guys go ahead." She had said writing furiously something on the papers on her hands without looking up. Whitey had squeezed her shoulder and led the team out. Nathan, Lucas, Tim and Jake had hugged her fast before going after the rest of the players.

After everyone had left the room, Haley had looked at the paper that was so important that she couldn't join the team yet. It had been filled with different sized flowers and hearts. Basically dribbles.

She had ripped the paper and threw it in the trash can with a sigh. She had known exactly why she had problems walking through that door. She couldn't handle the staring and the questions. She had mentally slapped herself for being such a baby. _Come on, Haley. They probably don't even care. Just open the door. They won't even notice you're there._

She had taken a deep breath, opened the door and stepped outside.

And that's where she was now. At the entrance of the locker room, 2 minutes before the start of the game having the entire gym stare at her. She played with the ends of her scarf that was around her neck to hide her bruises.

Even Masonboro's players and fans had stopped whatever they had been doing to stare at her.

'_They won't even notice you're there'._ Haley mocked her own previous thoughts sarcastically.

Haley looked at the quiet gym again and rolled her eyes annoyed. She walked up to the players' bench and high fived some players and Whitey.

Trying her best to act normal and ignore the whole gym, Haley waved to Brooke and Peyton who were standing at the end of the court in the middle of the cheerleaders. Haley saw Mouth sitting behind the player's bench ready to announce the game. She smiled at the familiar face and went to sit next to him.

"Hey, what's up?" she asked and sat down next to Mouth.

"Nothing. What's up with you... besides the obvious, I mean." Mouth said looking around them at the audience who was still staring at her.

"For fuck's sake..." she muttered and glared at the people around her while Mouth smiled at her apologetically. Haley tried to desperately think of something that would end the uncomfortable silence in the gym. So she asked herself the question that usually solved everything, or at least made her give a lap dance to Nathan.

_What would Brooke do?_

Haley grinned widely and clapped her hands a few times loudly.

"Let's go white!" Haley cheered as in the silent gym and winked at Nathan who looked at her like she was crazy.

That cheer seemed to be the thing that snapped the audience from their staring because everyone turned their heads from her to the person next to the them or the game. Soon the noise level was back to the normal in the gym.

"Ladies and gentlemen, you heard the lady. Let's go white!" Mouth said cheerfully on the microphone and Haley opened her manager's file with a smile.

--------------------------

"Tree Hill! Tree Hill! Tree Hill! Tree Hill!"

Haley grinned while taking a quick look at the excited crowd around her. After a tough game against Masonboro, the Ravens had managed to pull of another win securing them a spot at the next day's state championship game.

The whole team had just come out of the locker room wearing those nice suit shirts and were in the middle of celebrating on the court along with almost half of the crowd. Mouth was practically screaming on the mike because of the noise level in the gym.

Tree Hill hadn't played for state championship in over a decade and now when all their best players were seniors, they all knew it was their last chance for a while.

She turned back to her notes with a smile but got quickly interrupted.

"Aaaaahhhh! Waassssuuuuuupppp!"

"Tim, what have I told you about doing that?" Haley asked from Tim who had just sat down next to her.

"Not to." He said and started to pout.

"Oh, cheer up! You just came one step closer to winning state." she said and ruffled his hair.

"Heeeelllll yyyeaaaahhhh!" he yelled and held up his hand for a high five. He turned to look at Mouth and when he awkwardly high fived Tim, Haley couldn't suppress her laughter anymore.

"Oooh, I'm seeing some fine ladies." Tim said ignoring Haley's laughter when he saw a couple of skanky freshman looking at him and whispering something to each other with giggles before waving at him flirtatiously.

"Later, Haley!" he yelled and left before Haley had time to say anything.

"For a genius, he sure has a weird way of showing it." Haley said to Mouth.

"Talking to yourself?" Haley lifted her head from her notes to look at Nathan who was sitting down next to her.

"No, I was talking to..." she started and turned to look at where Mouth was sitting. But the seat was empty. "...Mouth." she finished looking around her. He saw Mouth talking to Brooke and Peyton in the court.

"That sneaky little..." Haley mumbled but then coughed and turned to smile at Nathan.

"Congrats!" she said with a big smile and gave him a hug. "You were awesome!"

"Thanks..." he said hugging her back and inhaling the flowery scent from her hair. It was the first time since the locker room fiasco when they were alone. The whole group had been with her every second since the previous day.

"I'm glad you could come." Nathan muttered to her hair. Haley sighed softly and let her body relax in his arms. She then remembered her thoughts when Greg had been choking her.

_I wanna tell Nathan I LOVE HIM! I fucking love him!_

Haley took a step back and looked at him in the eyes.

"Listen, there's something I have to-" Haley started but like always, she got interrupted.

"Hey, son." Haley quickly took a step back when he heard Dan's voice.

"Dad." Nathan said stepping in front of Haley wanting to keep Dan as far away from her as possible.

"Your condition's still crap. You should play the whole 32 minutes."

"My condition's fine, dad." Nathan said clenching his jaw.

"The scouts won't agree." Dan said glaring at him.

"Whatever, dad. If that's all..." Nathan said. Dan looked behind Nathan.

"I see you're still playing house with white trash." Dad said taking a step to the side so he could glare at Haley.

"Dad, give it up." Nathan said sighing.

"You better not screw up my son's future. You know, he's broke so getting yourself pregnant really won't get a dime out of him." Dan said ignoring Nathan and glaring at Haley.

"Dad..." Nathan growled.

"You're already getting inside his head, aren't you?" he asked still looking at Haley. "Stay away from my son. Tomorrow's the most important game in his whole high school career. Do not mess it up by screwing with his head! This is his future."

"Dad!" Nathan yelled. "Enough!"

Dan held up his hands in air in defence.

"Just warning you, son. That's how your mother duped me." He said and left.

"Sorry about him." Nathan said turning to look at Haley apologetically when Dan was gone.

"Like I said before, it's not your fault your dad's an ass." Haley said.

"So, you were saying something before the devil himself interrupted." Nathan said.

"Yeah, I was gonna say that..." Haley started but then something Dan had said struck her.

_Tomorrow's the most important game in his whole high school career. Do not mess it up by screwing with his head! This is his future._

"You know what, never mind." Haley said with a relieved smile and straightened his collar.

"You sure?" Nathan asked a bit disappointed. He had a feeling it might've been something important.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Haley said.

_Dan is right._ Haley thought. _Telling him I love him just a day before the state championship game will just mess with his head... It is his future..._ Haley thought relieved that she didn't have to confess her true feelings yet. Nathan was about to press the subject but luckily for Haley, Lucas ran up to them.

"Nathan, my brother, awesome game. Haley, my best friend and the platonic love of my life, thanks for coming." Lucas said high fiving Nathan and hugging Haley.

"Yeah, no problem." Haley said still relieved that she didn't have to pour out her heart to Nathan. Completely opening up and showing your vulnerable side was never easy.

"I saw Dan just leave. You two ok?" Lucas asked concerned.

"Yeah, he was just being his normal ass-y self. Nothing new." Haley said and waved her hand in the air to let them know she didn't care.

"Okay, if you're sure." Lucas said.

"Absolutely." Haley said. When Lucas still looked concerned, Haley took a hold of his shoulders with a smile. "Dude, you just won!" she said excited. Lucas laughed and high fived her.

"State championship, here we come!"

--------------------------

"State championship, here we come! Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2006 North Carolina boys' 4A basketball state championship game! Boy, was that a long sentence. And you know what else is going to be long? Tonight's party when Tree Hill wins the state championship. This is Mouth McFadden live from the Reynolds Coliseum only 5 minutes before the start of the game. Both teams are currently in their locker rooms with the coaches, assistant coaches, managers, team doctors, water boys, everyone who has anything to do with basketball. It's anyone's guess what's being said behind the closed doors..."  
-----

"Listen up, boys." Whitey's deep voice started. "Tonight is the most important game of the season. Obviously. Now, I'm not gonna stand here and make a whole speech about how far you've come and how proud I am of you. You already know all of that." He said and paused to take a good look at the boys around him in the packed locker room.

"You've ran suicides, drills, pretty much a damn marathon every game. You've pushed yourself to your limits, given everything you've got, done your best and even better. You deserve to be here. You've earned your spot. Be proud."

"After all the sweat, the tears, the blood... It's time to make it all worth it. You have given so much.." he paused for emphasis. "It's time to take something back." Whitey said with a smile and turned to look at Haley.

"Miss James, hit it."

Haley looked up from her notes at the boys around her. Her eyes stopped to meet Nathan's. Throughout the entire speech he hadn't taken his eyes off of her. The more he watched her, the more he wanted to tell her how he felt. He had barely spent a minute alone with her since her attack. The night after the attack, he had spent it in the hospital with everyone else. After she had been released they had gone straight to the game and afterwards Haley had spent the night at Karen's like she had promised to her parents.

The night she had slept at Karen's, he had barely slept at all. He knew she was safe at Karen's knowing that Lucas would be sleeping in the next room, keeping her safe. He knew that Greg was in custody and Haley didn't have any side affects from the roofies. She was safe. So for the life of him, Nathan couldn't figure out why he couldn't sleep. Why he had been so restless. Then, like a lightning from a clear sky it had hit him.

He didn't only want Haley to be safe, he wanted to be the one to _keep_ her safe. And not only did he need her near him, he needed her to be with him. _But why? Why all that?_ Nathan had wondered the entire night.

So around 4 am he had gotten up and decided to watch some TV thinking it might help him fall asleep. He pressed play on the DVD remote and groaned when 'Jerry Maguire', that Haley had been watching the other day, started to play. Suddenly, right after Tom Cruise said the famous 'you complete me' –line, Nathan understood everything. And boy did he feel like an idiot for not realizing it before. His friends and family and neighbors, practically anyone with a heart (excluding Dan from the group) and eyes had known it for a long time.

In 50 Cent's words, he loved her like a fat kid love cake.

Now, sitting in the locker room his eyes fixated on her, he both feared and anticipated the moment he would finally tell her.

Feeling the intense stare from Nathan and trying to hide her blush, Haley turned to the first page on her notes and tried to sound as confident and strong as possible.

"Alright, we've got four red flags. There's Brandon Fox, number 9. Has a 100 succeed rate in free throws. Do not foul him."

"Then we have Jim DeLuca. Tore his ACL in the beginning of the season but is waiting until after the season to get surgery. Ever since the start of the playoffs, he's been averaging over 20 points a game."

"Then there's Damien West, number 33. The captain of the squad, averages 22 points a game. Is known for playing dirty so watch out for those high elbows."

"And finally, the freshman of the year, Daniel Chan. You won't miss him; he's Chinese, he's 6' 5'' and has a mohawk. Rumor has it that he's already signed with UCLA." Haley finished and closed her file.

"Thank you, Miss James. I think the whole team agrees when I say that you've been a tremendous help for the team and we all appreciate it." Whitey said. The whole team clapped and cheered for her. Haley bowed with a smile trying to hide her blush.

"Any last words of wisdom? They say you're quite the smart one." Whitey said smiling.

Haley looked at the players proudly and couldn't help but feel emotional. Over the course of the few weeks she had gotten to know all the players well. She had tutored many of them and seeing them so excited and playing so well meant the world to her. To her and the rest of the team's luck she was becoming better and better at reading the players and the game which had earned her the respect of the team. That was also the reason why she felt like being part of the group. The players were also one of the few people that treated her the same as they did before the locker room incident.

"Have fun." She said with a small smile.

"You heard her! Let's go out there and have some fun!" Tim yelled and the others cheered. "Come on team, hands in the center." Tim said and all the guys got up from the benches and did what he said. Haley looked at the group of boys proudly. Jason Dowling, a blonde forward, turned to look at Haley.

"What the hell are you doing there? He said 'the team', right? Dude, hands in the middle." Haley laughed at word 'dude' being used of her and joined the guys in the circle. Yes, she was officially one of the guys.

"Alright, guys!" Tim yelled and Nathan elbowed him lightly. Nathan nudged his head towards Haley. Tim smiled before continuing. "And girl. Ravens on three! One! Two! Three!"

"Ravens!"  
----

"It is officially on! With less than 3 minutes until the start, the Ravens have just come out of the locker room. The team looks confident and pumped, but don't be fooled, so does the other team. This is gonna be the game of the year!" Mouth ended with a smile and high fived some players.

"Hey, wait up." Nathan said grabbing Haley's shoulder. They were on their way out of the locker room.

"Yeah, what's up?" Haley asked.

"Well..." Nathan started trying to find the words.

But how the hell do you tell someone just how much they mean to you? How much you care about them and want to protect them? How much you love them? The problem isn't what you say; it's quite simple actually, because all you need is three small words. The problem is to get the courage to say them. It's to have the courage to open up and let your guard down. To show yourself at your most vulnerable form and trust the other to not hurt you.

"I..." Nathan started but saw someone behind Haley walking towards them. "Shit..." he mumbled.

"Nathan Scott." A guy with a cocky voice and a smirk said from behind Haley. She turned to look at him.

"Damien West." Nathan said annoyed. Damien looked at him with a smirk before taking a look at the person next to him. His mouth opened in surprise.

"Haley James."

"West." Haley said annoyed and then turned to look at Nathan confused. "Wait, what did say his name was?"

"I'm Damien West. And you, among all the other girls, should remember it." Damien said and winked at her. Nathan looked at him like he wanted nothing more than to stab his eye.

"So, you two know each other?" Haley asked from Nathan.

"And you obviously know him." Nathan said with a hint of sarcasm that didn't go unnoticed by Damien.

"Yes, we do." Damien said with a wide smirk and wrapped his arm around Haley. She quickly shook it off with a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance. She glanced at Nathan who glared at Damien's arm like he was imagining ripping it off before hitting him in the head with it. Damien noticed that and being the asshole he was, decided to use it against Nathan.

"Yeah, didn't Haley tell you? We hooked up last summer in Florida during High Flyers." He said and grinned even wider when he saw the look on Nathan's face. Pure rage with a hint of jealousy.

"It was one night. One night from hell." Haley said glaring at Damien. "I was drunk, I was stupid and it was a mistake. Besides, what the hell are you doing here? I thought you lived in Florida." Haley said crossing her arms over her chest annoyed.

"No, I was only there for High Flyers. I told you I was gonna be the next big NBA star."

"I tried to block every word that came from your mouth." Haley said still glaring at him.

"But you didn't try to block _your mouth_ from my mouth." He said and tried to high five Nathan. He looked at Damien and his hand and suddenly got the same image of ripping it off and beating him with it.

"You need to leave." Haley said to Damien frustrated.

"You always were the feisty one." He said.

"Now!" Haley yelled. Damien left with a smirk on his face and his hands in the air in defence. Haley turned to look at Nathan who looked like he was ready to explode.

"Hey, sorry about-" Haley started but Nathan cut him off.

"You don't have to explain. It's not like we're dating." Nathan snapped even though he knew he had no right to be mad at Haley. It wasn't like he hadn't had his share of women. It just made him crazy to think that someone else might have had Haley, even though it was only a one night stand.

"But I want to explain." Haley said. "Look, last summer I was visiting Vivian in Florida. She complained-"

"I don't wanna hear this." Nathan said closing his eyes and rubbing his temples.

"-she complained the whole time that I wasn't relaxing and having fun. So the last night there I ended up-"

"Please, I don't wanna hear." He whispered but once again Haley ignored him.

"-I ended up at this beach party where I got totally wasted."

"I don't wanna hear." he said through clenched teeth.

"It was the first time I was drunk and I was stupid and naive. And I immediately knew it was wrong and I was so embarrassed. I never thought I'd ever see him-"

"Shut up!" Nathan yelled but immediately regretted it when he saw the look on Haley's face.

He took a deep sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He looked at Haley and swallowed guiltily when he saw that her eyes were shimmering with tears. "Oh, please don't cry. You know I hate it when you cry." He said and put his hands on her cheeks and looked at her in the eyes. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell at you." he said quietly.

"I just don't want you to be mad." Haley whispered. It broke Nathan to see her like that.

"I'm not mad. I have no right to be mad. It's not like I've been a monk when it comes to girls and sex." He mumbled and smiled a bit when he saw a flash of jealousy in Haley's eyes. "I just hate that out of all the people, it's him." He said and sighed. "He's an ass."

"Yeah, I know." Haley said and smiled when she realized that Nathan wasn't mad. He opened his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Well, the best revenge is to beat his ass at the game." Haley mumbled on his chest.

"Which I'm planning on doing." He said and kissed her forehead. They snapped out of their embrace when Tim yelled that the game was about to begin.

"It's show time." Nathan mumbled.

"Kick his ass." Haley said with a grin.

"Count on it." he said and winked.

Haley went to sit on her usual spot next to Mouth while Nathan huddled with the team. Standing in front of the Oak Lake benches, Damien West was drinking water while staring at Haley and Nathan having just witnessed the whole scene between them. With a cocky smirk he set down the water bottle.

He had just figured out Nathan Scott's weakness.

"Alright captains, gather around." The referee said when both starting line ups had been introduced. Damien, Nathan and Lucas went to the center of the court. "Alright, I want a clean game. No elbows, no knees, nothing. And I mean nothing. Just play fair and do you best. Good luck."

"Nothing, got it." Damien said to the referee and watched him go say something to the coaches.

Damien then turned to look at Nathan with a smirk.

"Nothing, huh. Kinda like what she was wearing the last time I saw her." He said and watched Nathan take an angry step towards him only to be stopped by Lucas. Lucas dragged Nathan away from Damien to the sidelines where the cheerleaders were. Peyton and Brooke joined them.

"Nate, what the hell are you doing?" Lucas whispered harshly.

"Beating that punk's ass, is what I'm gonna do." he said through gritted teeth and started to turn around so he could get to Damien but like before, Lucas grabbed him before he could do anything stupid.

"Its the state championship game!" Brooke said.

"Yeah, what the hell's the matter with you?" Peyton asked.

"That asshole West is driving me crazy." Nathan growled.

"So he tried to get into your head, so what?" Lucas asked.

"No, you don't get it. That bitch hooked up with James last summer!"

"What? Who?" Lucas asked confused.

"He means Haley." Brooke said bored. "Would it kill you two for once to call each other by your _actual_ names? You do know her actual name? It's-"

"Haley! Damien West hooked up with Haley? I'm gonna kick his ass!" Lucas said angrily.

"Hell yeah!" Nathan said and they both started to leave but this time Brooke and Peyton held them back.

"Let me go, Blondie." Nathan growled at Peyton who just rolled her eyes annoyed.

"Baby, that punk needs to learn his lesson!" Lucas said to Brooke with clenched teeth.

"_Baby_, calm the hell down." Brooke hissed.

"Hon, I'm gonna kick that bitch's ass! No one messes with my best friend." Lucas growled.

"Ok, take it easy Mr. Testosterone, you can be always replaced by many sorts of fruits, mainly cucumber, banana or my favorite: zucchini." Brooke said and both guys looked at her shocked while Peyton laughed.

"And maybe you should lay off the bitchy pills for one day, Ms. PMS." Lucas said.

"Explain to me again why I need a man." Brooke asked from Peyton.

"Alright, Unimouth. Quit fighting!" Peyton said. "This is not helping anyone."

"But you know what will help?" Nathan asked. "Us kicking Damien's ass." He said pointing at him and Lucas.

"Do you really think that's what Haley wants?" Peyton asked. "Do you think she wants you to kick his ass so both of you will get thrown out of the game and in the process lose the state championship and have the entire school hate you and blame her? Huh?" Peyton asked.

Nathan and Lucas looked at each other, then at the girls and finally with a defeated sigh at the floor.

"But she said 'kick his ass'." Nathan said in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, as in 'beat his ass on the game'. Not _literally_ kick his ass. At least not till the game's over. Humiliating him in something he loves the most, basketball, is the best revenge." Brooke said.

The referee whistled for the teams to get on the court again.

"Alright, game's about to start. Don't do anything stupid like attack him. Just score many points and humiliate him." Peyton said.

"And good luck." Brooke said and kissed Lucas.

Lucas and Nathan started towards the court.

"You gonna do what she says?" Nathan asked from Lucas.

"Yep."

"You're so whipped."

"Nate-man, if I can ever teach you anything about women, it's this: women are always right. Always. No matter what the argument is about, they're right. Trust me, one day you'll understand."

"Whatever, you're still whipped."

"Maybe." Lucas said and then added with a smirk. "But it doesn't mean I'm not gonna elbow the asshole West every time the ref isn't looking."

"That's the Scott spirit."

-------------------------------

"I'm gonna kill that asshole!"

"Nathan, calm down."

"Do you hear what he's saying about her?"

"Yeah, I do. You need to calm down."

"How the hell can you be so calm? Don't you wanna kill him?"

"Yeah, but every time I wanna strangle him, I look over to where Brooke is and she always does the cut throat motion."

"So, making the cut throat motion helps? You know, it's not like she's actually gonna kill you if you kick Damien's ass."

"Oh, the motion isn't for killing. It's for not giving any."

"Like I said, you're whipped."

"At least I'm getting some."

"Ladies, quit yakking and get back on the court. Or do I need to ask the cheerleaders for help?"

"No need, coach."

"Although Bevin has been hanging out a lot with Skillz. She's actually got a quite good free-"

"Just get back in the game!"

"Yes, sir." Lucas and Nathan said at the same time.

It was the middle of second quarter and Lucas and Nathan were going back to the court after resting and catching their breaths for few minutes on the sidelines. Throughout the whole game, Damien had done his best to annoy Nathan. And he had succeeded.

On more than one occasion after taunting Nathan, Nathan had almost attacked him. And every time either Jake, Tim or Lucas were there to hold him back.

"Welcome back to the court, Scott. Wanna hear more details?" Damien asked.

"Screw you, West."

"Nope, but I think I'll screw her. Again!"

"That's it! You feel like seeing with only your right eye?" he growled and started to attack him but this time he referee stopped him.

"That's it, I've had it with you too." He said looking between Nathan and Damien. "Since I would get the hatred of the entire audience if I threw out both teams' captains out because of some girl, here's what we're gonna do."

"You," the referee said pointing at Damien. "-need to keep your mouth shut unless you're gonna say something constructive to one of your team mates. And you," he said pointing then at Nathan. "-need to learn to ignore him and concentrate on what matters. The game! Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes." They both said.

"Great, now shake hands. Now!" Damien offered his hand with a cocky smirk. With a glare that could freeze water, Nathan shook it pressing it hard.

"Great, now let's get back in the game." He said and went to get the ball.

"You know where else this hand's been?" Damien whispered so only Nathan could hear. Damien turned to look at Haley who was sitting next to Mouth chatting with him. She was wearing a blue shirt and a pair of jeans. "Well, let's just say she wasn't wearing that blue shirt. Or any shirt for that matter."

"Nathan, walk away." Lucas said behind him.

"Yeah, Nathan. Walk away." Damien said mimicking Lucas before walking back to his side of the court.

"I swear to god..." Nathan started.

"I know, buddy." Lucas said patting him on the shoulder.

"You know, someday..." Nathan said again.

"I know."

----------------------------

"And that buzz just signaled the end of the second quarter. The Ravens are down by almost 20 points. Instead of playing their own game, the Ravens let the Cougars play them. I certainly hope that whatever is being said in that locker room helps the Ravens to get their game back. We will get back to you in about 15 minutes."

"What is this ball that I'm holding? Hmmm? L. Scott?"

"Umh, a basketball, coach?"

"Correct. And what game are we supposed to play out there? Smith?"

"Basketball."

"Again correct. So, you _do_ know." Whitey said sarcastically. Then his voice started to rise. "Because it sure as hell doesn't look like it! You need to start passing the ball. You need more people in defence. You need to block more shots, play better dee, catch more rebounds. And for the love of god Nathan, what the hell is up with you and that West kid?"

"Nothing, coach."

"Then don't act like there is."

"Yes, sir." Nathan mumbled while looking at Haley.

While Whitey continued his rant, Nathan paid no attention to him because as always, his concentration was on the brunette manager who was standing next to Whitey writing something on her notes and answering to Whitey's questions whenever he had one.

It was the most important game in Nathan's life so far and he couldn't care less if he won the it or not. His head was spinning and he couldn't get his thoughts straight. He was debating whether to strangle or beat up Damien West. Either way, Nathan was sure he would lose his mind if he couldn't beat something, or someone up. And who would be better than that annoying little shit who took advantage of his girl? With a smile, Nathan turned his attention back to Whitey.

"... strong right side, so try to force him to use his left side. Also try to push more to the center." Whitey said while drawing lines all over the white board. He turned to look at Haley. "How much?"

"4 minutes, 45 seconds."

"Alright, let's get back on the court, team." Whitey said and they got up from their seats and left the room. Nathan was about to join the team on court to warm up when Whitey told him to stay.

"What's up, coach." Nathan asked. They were standing by the locker room doors while the rest of the team was warming up.

"Funny, I was going to ask you the same, son."

Nathan didn't say anything, just sighed and turned to look at Haley who was walking towards her usual spot next to Mouth while talking to few of the players and laughing about something.

"So, Damien West hooked up with Haley who you're in love with but haven't told her yet and now you want to beat West up, partly because you're jealous and partly because he deserves it for treating her so badly."

Nathan looked at him in shock. He couldn't decide which was more disturbing, the fact that Whitey was obviously psychic or that he had used the expression 'hook up'. _Old people are supposed to say 'make love'_.

"How the hell did you know?" Nathan just asked his mouth still open in shock.

"Son, I've had a long life. I know how a man in love acts like." He said.

"But still..." Nathan said still in shock.

"Well, it didn't hurt that I heard you talking to Lucas." He added which made Nathan laugh before turning serious.

"I don't know what to do, coach. That kid is just driving me nuts!" Nathan said and ran his hand through his hair.

"I know, son. But let me tell you something that will help you for the rest of your life." He said and paused. "Life is not fair. Deal with it."

"_That's_ your advice?"

"Oh, it's not supposed to be deep. Life will throw you so many curve balls that it will make that little head of yours spin so hard you won't know what to do. But the way you handle those situations is how people will you see as a person." Whitey said.

Nathan still looked confused.

"If you go out there and let Damien West affect the way you play you will be just as bad as he is. I know this sounds corny but you really have to rise above him. Show everyone you're better than him and not just in basketball."

"Sure, whatever." Nathan said unfocused while staring at Haley. Whitey followed his gaze and smiled.

"So you haven't told her yet?"

"No, and I won't. She just wants to be friends." Nathan muttered quietly.

"Are you sure? Did she say that? Were her actual words: 'I only want to be friends'."

"No, but she's made it clear that she's happy being like this." Nathan said.

"Nathan, that doesn't mean anything. Camilla and I were friends for years before either could get the courage to want for anything more." Whitey said and patted him on the shoulder.

"Why the hell is everything so hard?" Nathan asked running his hand through his hair upset.

"Son, if there's only one thing I can teach you it's that nothing in life that's worth having comes easy." Whitey said quietly emphasizing every word. "Now, go warm up." He said and watched with a smile as Nathan joined his team mates on the court.

-----------

"So, what's up with you and Nathan?" Brooke asked joining Haley on the bench.

"Like I've told you a million times, nothing. Besides, shouldn't you be cheering on the court?" she asked in an annoyed voice without taking her eyes off the folder on her lap.

"I'm the captain and I do what I want." Brooke said with a smirk.

"How nice for you." Haley said dryly.

"Hey, cheer up, girl." Brooke said and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. "Nathan will come around."

Haley slammed the folder shut and turned to look at Brooke angry.

"Will you stop with the harassing! He wants to be friends and there's not a damn thing I can do about it!" Haley said in loud voice and few people around them turned to stare at her. She gave them the death glare and they all turned back.

"Jesus, calm down." Brooke whispered.

"Just stop trying to hook us up. It's not going to happen."

"But you like him. And he likes you. What the hell is your problem?"

"It's not that simple." Haley muttered.

"Of course it's not simple. Nothing in life is simple."

"But why is it so hard?" Haley asked her voice cracking a bit. "Maybe it's just not meant to be if it's this hard. This complicated."

Brooke looked at Haley and took a hold of her hand.

"Someone very famous and very old once said: You don't deserve it if you don't have to fight for it." Brooke said emphasizing every word to get through to her. Haley looked at the floor while listening carefully before looking at her with a smirk.

"Isn't that from 'Cutting Edge 2'?"

"So, what if it is? It's still true."

Brooke heard the buzzer signal the start of the game.

"Look, I gotta go. But don't give up on him. Just come clean and tell him how you feel. Trust me, he feels the same way." She said and squeezed Haley's hand before leaving.

"You just want us to hook up now because of the bet." Haley muttered with a smile and turned to look at her favorite Ravens player.  
------

"You ready for round 2, Scott?" Damien asked with a smirk and turned to look at Haley who was sitting on the stands. "Or should I ask her the same?"

"Whatever, West. How about you concentrate on the game. I want to have your full attention every time I steal the ball from you." Nathan said with a smirk.

"I'm warning you..." The referee said and blew on the whistle to start the game. Less than 5 seconds later, Nathan had stolen the ball from West and passed it to Lucas who easily made a basket.

"You can expect lots of that." Nathan said with a smirk and laughed when Damien turned to yell at his team mates.

"Alright, let's start playing. I'm not leaving this place tonight without a trophy." Nathan said to Lucas and high fived Tim.

"Hell yeah."

The rest of the third quarter went well for the Ravens. They finally got their game back and started to control the game. The whole team played well and especially Nathan excelled. He finally ignored Damien's comments and concentrated on winning him at the game. By the start of the fourth quarter, they were tied with Oak Lake. Damien's comments that were earlier directed to Nathan were now to his team and the comments were anything but encouraging.

After using another time out, Oak Lake finally got their game back and for the entire fourth quarter the two teams played neck and neck. Whenever the other team got a basket, the other tied. The fans were out of control, the cheerleaders were shaking their pompoms like there was no tomorrow and Mouth was screaming on the mike so loud he barely had any voice left. Haley was gripping the folder on her hands so tightly she could barely feel her hands.

90 seconds before the end of the game, the Ravens were leading 76-74.

"Let's keep it up, Ravens! No fouling." Nathan yelled at his team right at the same time when Jake fouled an Oak Lake player.

"What did I just say!" Nathan asked frustrated.

"Sorry..." Jake muttered and watched in frustration as Oak Lake tied the game.

Less than a minute left in the clock, Whitey called another time out.

"I'm dying in there." Tim said while sitting on the bench to catch his breath while another player next to him asked for water.

"We need to play tougher dee..." some player said.

"No, more rebounds..." someone else said.

"And someone needs to guard that damn West kid..."

"...and that wannabe-yao ming!"

"And don't fucking foul Fox, he never misses a free throw!"

"Quiet, everyone!" Whitey said and everyone shut their mouths. "There's 50 seconds left on the clock, it's the state championship game and we're tied. I've never seen you play this good as a team. You catch rebounds, help each other out, look for open spots, talk to each other. I couldn't ask you to play better because it's not possible."

"Then why did you call time out?" Tim asked and they all laughed.

"Take a look around." Whitey said and the whole team looked at the audience who was cheering as load as humanly possible.

"This your night. This is your game. You've been waiting for this your whole high school. For some of you, you have less than a minute left of your high school basketball career. Love every single second of it. Take it all in." Whitey said and looked at the boys around him fondly. Haley, who was standing next Whitey, smiled at them proudly.

"I've never coached a better team and I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am to help you get here. But make no mistake, this is all you. You did this. In the end, I just showed you the door. You were the ones who walked through it. Now, let's win this last game and enjoy the last minute. Tim, hit it."

"Win on three. One! Two! Three!"

"WIN!" they yelled and stayed at the huddle.

Haley patted few people on their backs before going back to her seat. She looked at Nathan who was staring back at her. Haley mouthed 'good luck' and showed him her crossed fingers. Nathan just winked back at her with a smirk before turning to look at the team again.

"Whitey sure knows how to give a pep talk." Nathan said and high fived several players.

"This one's for him." Tim said.

Had it all been a movie or a TV show on the CW, everything that happened next would've happened in slow motion; the five players walking back to the court, the audience standing up, the cheerleaders cheering at the top of their lungs, Mouth yelling on the mike, Whitey encouraging his team...

But as soon as the ball was thrown back in the game, it was back to the fast-paced, exciting high school basketball at its best.

With 45 seconds left, Damien West caught the ball, dribbled across the court and scored two points for Oak Lake.

"You see that Scott? That's the sound of you losing the game!" Damien said when running past Nathan. Nathan looked at him annoyed and then turned to look at his team mates.

"We're so winning this game. I don't care what it takes, we won't leave this place without a win." He said with a serious voice and caught the ball that Lucas threw from under their basket.

"Let's do this." Lucas said excited.

Nathan drippled the ball to the other side of the court. After about 10 seconds of passing the ball from one player to another, Jake finally got a good spot and shot the ball neatly through the net.

It was 78-78.

20 seconds till the end of the game, the Oak Lake drippled it back to the Tree Hill basket. Oak Lake passed the ball, looking for that perfect spot while the Ravens did their best to block every player.

"Give it up, Scott. You've got nothing!" Damien said to Nathan who was blocking him.

"We'll see about that." Nathan mumbled focusing all his energy on the game.

"Bring it on." Damien said with a cocky smirk running to the left side of the court. Suddenly he sprinted to the other direction looking for an open spot and in the process getting rid of Nathan.

"Ball!" Damien yelled to the Oak Lake player. Quickly he passed the ball to Damien who caught it easily. Damien took another step to the side and prepared to make the shot. Just when the ball had left his hands, Nathan came out of nowhere and blocked the shot. With the audience cheering, he drippled the ball to the other end of the court.

3 seconds.

"You've got nothing, Scott!" Damien yelled in fury behind him.

But Nathan never heard him. The only thing he could hear was his own heavy breathing and his foot steps... 2 seconds... He finally got close enough to the basket and started the jump. 1 second... With a beautiful movement, he slammed the ball in the basket and hung from it when he heard the buzzer signal the end of the game. The Ravens had won.

Nathan landed on the floor and was soon practically crushed by Lucas, Jake and Tim and the rest of the team who lifted Nathan on their shoulders. Soon the cheerleaders joined them along with a group of fans. Still screaming in happiness, Nathan looked over at the Oak Lake bench where Damien West had just kicked their bench over. Nathan's gaze moved on to the Tree Hill bench where some of the players had just soaked Whitey like they do during Super Bowl. Behind them Mouth was jumping up and down hugging several fans on the stands.

Nathan looked down at the excited group around him and smiled when he saw Brooke making out heavily with Lucas while Peyton jumped on Jake's lap. His excited whoop faded when he realized that something missing. Or someone. Where the hell was Haley?

Nathan looked at the group of fans around him and the team but didn't see her. He turned to look at the players' bench but it only had a soaking wet Whitey and the team doctor. His gaze moved behind them, where Haley was. She was still sitting on the bench writing something on her notes with a smile. Only Haley could make notes few seconds after winning state championships. Nathan jumped off from the fans' and the players' hands and pushed his way through the group of people around him. He finally managed to make it to the sidelines where there were less people.

His eyes never leaving Haley, he jogged to where she was sitting. With a swift movement, he pulled her on her feet.

"What are you-" Haley started but got cut off by Nathan's lips.

In shock, she didn't know how to respond but seconds later she wrapped her hands around his neck and deepened the kiss. The people around them started to cheer but neither paid any attention to them until oxygen became an issue. Still wrapped in each other's embrace, they stared at each other.

"You have no idea how long I have waited for that." Haley whispered.

"I could say the same thing." Nathan said resting his forehead against hers.

"This is just... you have no idea... I've been wanting..." Haley started but didn't know how to finish. She then fell silent and just stared at him. "I frigging love you, Nathan. I don't know how else to say it." she said.

"I frigging love you too, Haley." Nathan said and closed the space between their mouths again.

Unknown to Haley and Nathan, they had an audience. And it was growing. It started with only Lucas and Brooke cheering for the couple but soon Tim joined them and high fived Brooke. Suddenly they heard an angry yell behind them.

"Son of a bitch!"

Brooke turned to see Jake and an angry Peyton behind them.

"What the hell, Peyton? They finally hooked up." Brooke said to her.

"But it's not my weekend. I just lost like 30 bucks." She said and fake pouted which made Brooke laugh.

"And I just won like $150." Brooke said happily and started to think of all the possible clothes she could bye.

"Hope you remember to divide that by two." Karen said joining the group.

"Oh, yeah. You had the same weekend. How very nice." Brooke mumbled.

"Oh, cheer up, Brookie." Karen said and wrapped her arm around herself.

"Yeah, at least we don't have to witness any more of that flirtatious bickering." Peyton added.

30 minutes later after talking to the press, the Ravens finally got back on their bus and started their way back to Tree Hill. Needless to say the bus ride was far from a quiet, peaceful one. The noise level was way over the limit and the bus driver threatened to tie Tim down if he wouldn't stop hanging from the open window. He protested claiming that it was the only way to not feel nauseous because of a certain couple's heavy making out. Lucas agreed.

When they finally got to the Tree Hill parking lot, the rowdy players piled out of the bus.

"Remember! Party at my place now! And don't change your uniforms." Tim reminded.

"Eww, why?" Brooke asked disgusted joining the team.

"For good luck. And for most of us it's the last night we can wear them." Tim said and fell silent. He then continued with a smirk. "Besides, how the hell can the slutty freshmen recognize the players if we don't wear the uniforms?" he said and high fived some random player.

"Should've known." Peyton said.

"So, we ready to go?" Tim asked.

"Yeah, let's get the party started!" Brooke said.

"Haley and I are gonna take my car." Nathan announced his hand wrapped around her shoulders.

"But there's room in my car." Tim said confused.

"Oh, that's not necessary." Haley said. "He.. umh, we... Nathan needs to get something from his car so we'll just meet you there." Haley said and then gave them a wide grin.

The couple started to walk away from the group towards Nathan's car.

"Alright, we'll follow you to the party! We'll be right behind you!" Lucas yelled. The group watched Nathan and Haley's leaving backs with smiles on their faces. Brooke's happy face quickly turned into a confused one.

"Wait, did they just call each other by their _actual_ names?"

--------

So, there it was. The last chapter before the epilogue. I'll try to post it in the next few days. In the meantime, lemme know what you thought of this chapter. :)


	16. Epilogue

Epilogue

_They call me Big L'y, Big Silly, Big Money, Big Willy..._

"Jesus Tim, did you invite the junior high too?" Brooke yelled over LL Cool J's voice that was blasting from the speakers.

It was 10 pm and Tim's place was packed with people. Brooke was making her way towards the kitchen to get refills while Tim and Peyton followed her. Jake and Lucas had stayed in the living room saving them spots and talking to some fans.

"I mean seriously, Tim. You'd think that the cheerleaders and the ball players would've been enough." Brooke said while refilling the empty red plastic cups with beer.

"The more the merrier." Tim said with a grin. "Besides, over half of the people here look so young that they must have a curfew in few hours. Trust me, Brooke. The place will be half empty by midnight."

"Let's hope so." Brooke mumbled and handed them the filled mugs.

They started to make their way back to the living room. Once they managed to get through the group of people, they noticed that Jake and Lucas were surrounded by a bunch of freshmen girls that were dressed like what could only be described as child prostitutes. Few of them were even sitting on the guy's laps who looked very uncomfortable.

Brooke narrowed her eyes in anger and started her way through the mass of people. When she got in front of the guys and the freshmen girls, she cleared her throat loudly.

"Yes?" one of the girls in Lucas' lap asked with an annoyed voice while Lucas tried to push her off of him.

"Why don't you get off of my boyfriend's lap before I pull you by your fake, blonde hair." Brooke said with a sweet voice.

"Exactly what she said." Peyton said pointing at the girl in Jake's lap.

"Maybe your boyfriends want to hang out with us." One girl said while the guys shook their heads furiously in denial.

"By the disgusted, scared looks on their faces I'd say no." Brooke said.

The girls got up with angry, snobby looks.

"You know, Brooke. The whole world can see your boobs with that top." One of the girls said wanting to have the last word. Brooke rolled her eyes and sighed.

"As opposed to your AA cup. It's called puberty, honey. It'll happen. Now beat it." she said and the girls left with angry huffs.

"Way to bitch it out, Brooke." Peyton said and high fived her while sitting down on the couch next to Jake.

"What can I say, it's my nature." She said with a laugh.

------------------------

"Do you think we should go back inside?" Haley asked with a giggle from Nathan.

The whole group had come straight from the game to Tim's to celebrate but as soon as they had shown up to Tim's, Nathan had pulled Haley away from the crowd.

They were sitting on a swing in Tim's backyard, making out like there was no tomorrow. She was sitting on Nathan's lap her legs thrown on his left side and hands wrapped around his neck.

"Maybe." he replied while kissing her slowly. "Or not. I really don't need to talk to anyone tonight."

"But it's your party. You're their hero." She whispered enjoying the feel of Nathan's lips way too much.

"Don't care." He singsonged and concentrated on Haley's lips again while resting his hands on her hip and thighs.

"Me neither." She said weakly and let out a quiet moan. Nathan's eyes flew open when he heard the quiet, long moan. It was an instant reminder of his favorite fantasy of her, the one where she was giving him a lap dance. Topless.

"Oh, you're killing me." Nathan mumbled trying to get rid of the fantasy before his body decided to show physical evidence just how much he liked that fantasy.

"What?" she asked completely unaware of her affect on him.

Suddenly her cell phone started to ring in her pocket. It just happened to be on her left pocket that was against Nathan's crotch. He felt his stomach doing a flip flop and blood rushing through his body as the phone vibrated against his shorts. He let out a load groan and took a deep breath. He could definitely feel the blood rushing through his body and it was all headed to a certain muscle in the mid section of his body.

"What?" Haley asked while shutting her cell phone.

"Nothing." he managed to say.

Haley shrugged her shoulders and leaned over to put her cell phone in her purse that was on the ground. While leaning down Nathan could see her shirt rising and her low waist jeans lower just enough so he could see the black lacy thong peak under the waistband. Nathan immediately realized that it was a matching bottom to the black lacy bra he loved so much.

Nathan leaned his head back and closed his eyes trying get rid of the same fantasy.

"Seriously, you're killing me." Nathan mumbled keeping his eyes closed and taking deep breaths.

"What! Do I weigh too much? Are your legs numb? That's it. I'm fat and you can't feel your legs-" She said starting to panic.

"Haley, you're not-" Nathan started but Haley didn't hear a word.

"-and now I'm killing you and your legs and then you can't ever play any basketball ever never and your dad will kill me and go to jail and everyone will hate me." She rambled and started to get up from Nathan's lap. He instantly took a hold of her hips and pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" Nathan asked.

"Getting up so you don't have to amputate your legs." She said matter-of-factly.

"I already told you. You're not hurting me. Quite the opposite." He said with a grin.

"Ok, if you're sure." Haley said still not really understanding.

She moved slightly on his lap trying to get a better position. In the process she accidentally rubbed the side of her thigh on Nathan's crotch. He let out a load moan.

"Seriously, Haley." He said and tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down.

"What!"

----------------------------

"So, Brooke and Karen won the bet, huh." Tim said.

"Yep, I'm psychic." Brooke said proudly.

"So, what are you gonna do with the money?"

"Clothes, clothes, clothes and let me think what else, umh... Clothes!" she said rubbing her hands together with that crazy, obsessed gleam in her eyes.

"Okaaaayyy..." Peyton said and did the cut throat motion to Tim to drop the subject. Brooke always got weird when someone mentioned clothes just like Peyton did when someone mentioned her favorite bands.

"I'm telling you, people. I'm psychic." Brooke said proudly.

"Or lucky." Tim pointed out.

"Hey, I predicted the Naley hook up over 3 months ago and I hit the right weekend. You're just mad 'cause you missed the date by over two months."

"Speaking of the two. Where the hell are they?" Tim asked. "I mean, I haven't seen them since we all got here. Where the hell did they go?"

"My guess? Your bedroom." Brooke said with a grin.

"Eww." Tim said and started to get up.

"Where are you going?" Brooke asked.

"To kick them out of my bedroom before washing the sheets and buying a new bed."

"Oh, just let them be." Brooke said. "After everything they've been through; Dan, Damien West, Greg Smith… Not to even mention all the bickering, flirting and constantly swearing to be nothing but friends, those two have finally found each other. Let them enjoy their alone time." she said.

"Fine, but I'm still washing the sheets." Tim said and then remembered Brooke mocking him about how wrong his bet had been. Tim placed a 20-dollar bill on the table. "I bet twenty bucks that Nathan and Haley don't show up till after midnight."

"No more bets, Tim." Lucas said.

"Yeah, I think we're done with those for a while." Jake agreed.

"Twenty says they come in the next 30 minutes." Brooke said slamming a twenty on the table.

"Nah, it's a no-show. They're already on their way to Nathan's apartment." Peyton said digging through her wallet for a twenty while Lucas and Jake shook their heads and sighed.

"Here we go again..." Lucas muttered.

"They never know when to stop..." Jake mumbled.

"Twenty says they did it in Tim's shower." Brooke said with a grin and threw another twenty on the table.

"No!" Lucas yelled and gave the bill back to her. "Let's _not_ go there. I'm not planning on throwing up tonight." Lucas said at the thought of her best friend and brother having sex.

They all sat in silence for a while.

"Twenty says you throw up anyways." Peyton said with a grin.

"I'll take that bet." Brooke said.

"No! Stop it, Brooke! You'll lose all your money and then you can't buy any of those fancy, pretty clothes." Lucas said. Brooke looked at him, then at Peyton and finally at the twenty-dollar bill on the table. She quickly snatched it back.

"Chicken." Peyton mumbled.

"I don't care. I want those Manolo Blahnik's way too much." She said and turned to look at the door when she heard the noise level suddenly grow there. People were cheering and whistling and piling towards the door that led to the back yard.

Nathan Scott had just arrived.

"Thank you, god!" Brooke said grabbing the sixty bucks from the table as Tim and Peyton groaned.

With his arm wrapped around Haley's shoulder, Nathan looked in shock as the people around him started to chant his name. Apparently making the state title winning basket was a big deal. Haley kissed him on the cheek.

"Talk to the fans, I'm gonna find Brooke and the rest." She said with a smile and left before Nathan could protest. Haley knew how big of a deal the game was so she wanted him to enjoy it as much as possible.

"Yo! Haley!" Tim yelled when he saw her looking around the huge living room. Haley nodded her head in recognition and headed towards her friends.

"Dude, how many people did you invite here?" Haley asked from Tim when she got there.

"A few." He responded innocently.

"So, how was the sex?" Brooke asked when Haley sat down next to her.

"Brooke!" Lucas and Haley both said shocked.

"What Nathan and I do or don't do is none of your business." Haley said with a smile. Brooke looked at Peyton and then they both smiled.

"I need to pee." Brooke said.

"Yeah, me too." Peyton said quickly. They both got up and grabbed Haley by her arm and started to drag the confused girl towards the bathroom.

"What are you-"

"You need to pee, Haley." Brooke said on their way there. They guys stared at the girls confused.

"What the hell just happened?" Jake asked.

"I guess they needed to pee." Lucas said and watched the girls bang on a bathroom door at the other side of the room. They watched in shock as the girl who had just gone in the bathroom, opened the bathroom door in confusion. Brooke pulled the poor girl out of the bathroom and pushed Peyton and Haley in.

"Brooke! We could've waited until she was done." Haley said when they closed the bathroom door.

"Whatever, she'll get over it." She said and waved her hand dismissing the subject. "Now, tell us about the sex." She said and rubbed her hands together with a grin.

"I don't know-"

"Where? When? And which positions?" Brooke started to count with her fingers.

"Whoa. Calm down." Haley said. "Nothing like that happened." Haley said and smiled when Brooke and Peyton looked disappointed. "Yet."

"Now, that's what I'm talking about." Brooke said.

"Atta girl." Peyton added.

"So, where were you all this time?"

"In the backyard on the swing."

"Awww, how romantic." Peyton said.

"Whatever, was there tongue involved?" Brooke asked.

"Brooke!" they both said.

"What? You were there for like two hours. I doubt you spent it playing Scrabble."

"Ok, there might have been some kissing. You happy?"

"For now." Brooke said with a wink. "You ready to go back?" Both girls nodded their heads and they opened the door. The girl Brooke had pulled out looked at them furiously before going inside the bathroom and slamming the door shut. Brooke just shrugged her shoulders innocently at the few people who were staring at her. The girls went back to where the guys were sitting.

"Hey, baby." Haley said happily when she saw that Nathan had joined the guys. Nathan pulled her on his lap and gave her a kiss.

"Oh, come on. We all know it's new and all but please spare us." Brooke said.

"Oh, look who's talking. Unimouth." Haley said smirking and just to spite her, kissed Nathan again.

"Do you want something to drink?" Peyton asked when he noticed that Haley didn't have a drink.

"Nah, I think I'm staying sober tonight. You know, lay low for once." Haley said quietly and the others looked at her sympathetically. They all knew what happened the last time she was drunk.

"So..." Brooke started changing the subject. "When are your parents coming back?"

"On Sunday." Haley said.

"You excited or bummed?" Peyton asked.

"It's nice to see them." She said with a smile. "But I kinda wish I didn't have to move out yet." She said looking at Nathan.

"Oh, I'll make the last days count. Don't worry." He said wiggling his eyebrows which made Haley blush and the others groan in disgust.

"New subject, please." Peyton announced grosed out. She was about to suggest movies when someone else spoke first.

"Hey, Haley." They all turned to look at Jared Miller, a senior football player, standing in front of them and very openly checking out Haley.

"Hey, Jared. What's up?" Haley asked politely.

"Just wanted to see how you're doing." He said smiling at her. Nathan narrowed his eyes and instinctively tightened his hold around Haley.

"I'm good. You still keeping your grades up?"

"Yeah."

"Good." Haley said.

"So, you want something to drink?"

"NO!" everyone yelled remembering what happened the last time someone touched her drink. Haley looked at her friends with a smile and then turned to look at Jared.

"No, thanks. I'm fine." Haley said.

"Yes, you are." He said with a smirk. Nathan's hands curled into fists and he let out a small growl. He couldn't believe the nerve of that guy.

"So, you wanna go dance?" Jared asked.

"Dude!" Nathan yelled annoyed and pointed between himself and Haley. "She's kinda busy. And taken! Not single! Out of your league and off limits! So, spread the word and beat it." he growled. Jared held his hands up in the air in defence and left.

"Possessive much?" Brooke asked with a smirk.

"Can you believe that guy?" Nathan asked annoyed. "I mean, she's sitting on my lap kissing me. You know, clearly taken! And that asshole has the nerve to ask her to dance? Jesus..."

"Ok... down boy." Brooke said.

"Can we leave soon?" Nathan asked when he saw another guy check Haley out from the other side of the room.

"We just got here." Haley said with a smile. "This is a party for the team that you're the captain of. We can't just leave."

"Fine." Nathan said burying his head in her hair.

"Let's go dancing." Brooke announced. Peyton and Haley both clapped their hands enthusiastically while the guys groaned.

"Fine, you can stay here." Brooke said to the guys.

The guys looked as Brooke, Peyton and Haley went to the center of the "dance floor" and started to dance. Almost immediately the girls had the attention of practically every single male in the room. Soon the three guys started to regret not joining their girlfriends.

"That one guy is totally eyeballing Brooke." Lucas said angrily.

"Him? What about that other one who's looking at Peyton and drooling. See? Drool!" Jake said his eyes narrowing in anger.

"And that one guy in the corner is totally undressing Haley in his mind. Asshole." Nathan growled.

"Well, all your girls look pretty hot." Tim said with a smirk and almost laughed out loud when the three guys turned to look at him with looks that could kill.

"Shut up, Tim." They all said and turned to look at their girls again.

"Why the hell does Brooke have to move her hips so damn much?"

"Did Peyton just bend over?"

"I knew I shouldn't have let Haley wear that..."

"You see that guy? He's staring at Brooke again! And now he's moving towards her!"

"And Peyton's drooler just joined the girls on the floor. If he so much as touches her..."

"What the fuck! Haley's stalker just licked his lips. And now he's moving towards her!"

Nathan, Lucas and Jake looked as the three strangers started to dance with their girlfriends.

"That's it." Nathan announced and got up. Jake and Lucas followed him immediately.

The guys made their way towards the middle of the room. When they got through the crowd of people, they pushed the three other guys off of their girlfriends.

"I thought you didn't want to dance?" Brooke asked from Lucas sweetly when the three unwanted guys left.

"We changed our minds." Nathan said.

"Good." Haley said and wrapped her hands around Nathan's neck just when a slow song started to play.

"You having fun?" Haley asked from Nathan while slowly swaying from side to side.

"Yeah." Nathan said. "But I'd have much more fun at my place with just you and me." He said with a grin.

"We don't have to stay here if you don't want to." Haley said feeling guilty. If Nathan really didn't want to stay, she shouldn't make him.

"Nah, I don't mind. You probably wanna hang out with you friends." Nathan said looking at the two dancing couples by them.

"Not as much as I wanna hang out with you." Haley cleared.

"Good." He said and kissed her neck softly.

They danced slowly without saying anything until the song ended. When they heard the next song which just happened to be their lap dance song, Ashanti's "Only You", they both grinned widely at each other.

"Wanna go finish what we started back then?" Haley asked with a grin. Nathan didn't say anything, just grabbed her hand and started to drag her towards the front door.

"Where the hell are they going?" Lucas asked when Nathan and Haley had slammed the front door shut on their way out of Tim's house.

"Probably to have hot, sweaty sex on the back seat of his car." Brooke said absentmindedly.

"Brooke!"

------------------------------

"Do you mind if I change the station?" Haley asked politely. They were in Nathan's car on their way to his apartment.

"No, not at all." He said and smiled.

Haley leaned over to switch the channel. Even though in the process of doing that she showed a fair share of cleavage, Nathan's eyes stayed strictly on the road.

They drove in silence listening to the soft melody from the radio. Both were silent, concentrating on the road ahead of them. Neither touched the other, in fact they both seemed to be as far away from each other as possible.

His hands in perfect 10 and 2 o'clock position, he turned the wheel smoothly to the right and checked to see if there were any pedestrians before entering the parking lot of his apartment complex. He spotted an empty spot close to the building. He parked the car on the empty spot and leaned over Haley to open the door for her. Though Haley could smell Nathan's deep cologne and wanted nothing more than to rip his shirt off, she simply thanked him and got out of the vehicle.

They saw one of their neighbours walking by them towards the staircase.

"Hello, Mrs. Carrey." They both said cheerfully at the same time.

"Well, hello there darlings." The old woman said and smiled at them warmly. "Still out at this hour?"

"I was just going to ask you the same, Mrs. Carrey." Haley said with a smile and offered her hand for the old woman. Haley helped her up the stairs while Nathan carried the old woman's purse.

"Well, the bingo night ran late." She said and then added proudly. "I won."

"Good for you, Mrs. Carrey." Nathan said.

"Congratulations!" Haley said.

"Thank you, kids." She said. "And congratulations to both of you. I saw the game on the TV. My friends almost didn't believe me when I told them the famous Nathan Scott lived in the same building as I do."

"Thank you, Mrs. Carrey." Nathan said.

"Well, I'm good here." The woman announced and stopped in front of her door. Nathan handed her purse back to her.

"Good night, kids."

"Good night, Mrs. Carrey." They both said with wide smiles and watched as the old woman went into her apartment and closed the door.

Nathan and Haley walked the corridor and stopped in front of the familiar number 11. Nathan opened the door and held it open for Haley.

"Ladies first."

"Why thank you, dear." She said and walked inside.

Nathan followed her inside and turned around to put the safety lock on. Before he turned around, he knew exactly what was going to happen next and he took a deep breath. With a sexy smirk he turned around. And like he had expected, Haley was standing there only inches from him with a smile that was a mixture of cunning, relief... and was that lust?

She pushed him against the door, took her shirt off revealing the famous black lacy bra that Nathan loved so much. She crashed her lips to his and they both started to kiss each other hungrily. Nathan grabbed her ass and lifted her so she would wrap her legs around his waist which she happily did. Nathan turned them around so Haley was the one leaning against the front door.

It was a total 180 from few minutes earlier. The minute they had left Tim's place, they had kept their distance knowing that if they had touched each other, they couldn't have controlled themselves. And having sex on the hood of his car and giving a sex show for the whole neighborhood was not an option. So they had kept their distances. But now they were finally in Nathan's apartment. Alone. Without distractions.

Nathan's lips were everywhere... On her neck, lips, behind her ear, on her breasts... Her whole body was tingling and she couldn't help the moans that left her throat.

"Nathan..." Haley whispered between her moans.

"Mmmhmm?"

Haley left another moan when his lips found that special spot behind her ear. Her breaths were coming in shorter terms and hot waves were going through her body.

"Bedroom. Now!"

Nathan didn't need to be told twice.

--------------------------

"Should we knock?"

"What if they're still in bed?"

"It's almost 6 pm. They can't be sleeping anymore."

"Who said anything about sleeping?"

"What if they're having sex?"

"What if they're naked?"

"What if they're naked _and_ having sex?"

Silence.

"I don't know about you, Tim, but usually people _are_ naked when they're having sex."

"I'm just saying."

"Of for god's sakes." Brooke mumbled and banged on the door twice.

Tim, Brooke, Lucas, Peyton and Jake all waited in silence for someone to open the door. They heard two people moving inside the apartment. After a minute of muffled sounds and rapid footsteps, a shirtless Nathan finally opened the door.

"What's up?" Tim asked from Nathan. The whole group first looked at Tim, then at Nathan's mid region and immediately after either the wall, the roof, the ground or each other, pretty much anything but Nathan. Or his mid region.

"Besides the obvious..." Brooke muttered and pushed him out of her way.

She walked inside the apartment slowly step by step and looked around the place with a mixture of suspicion and caution. She then turned to look back at the rest of the group who was still outside looking at her with raised eyebrows. It was as if they were asking her if it was safe to come in. She nodded her head. The group looked at each other hesitating whether to go in or not.

"Get in!" she snapped. One by one they all walked slowly inside the apartment.

"So, where's your better half?" Peyton finally asked from Nathan when she didn't see Haley.

"Right here." Haley said coming out of the bedroom. She was wearing a pair of Nathan's shorts, some random tank top and was furiously trying to tie her messy hair up in a bun.

"Rough night?" Brooke asked with a smirk.

"Funny..." Haley muttered sarcastically while walking next to Nathan for support. He wrapped his arm loosely around her waist playing with the hem of her shorts and kissed her on the side of the head.

"So, what are you doing here?" Nathan asked looking at the group.

"Well, you left so suddenly last night so we wanted to check if everything was ok." Lucas said lamely.

"And we wanted to hear the dirty gossip." Brooke finished with a smirk. Nathan and Haley rolled their eyes and started to walk towards the kitchen.

"You want some breakfast?" Haley asked while Nathan took a frying pan out.

"Breakfast?" Tim asked and looked at the clock on the wall. "No thanks..."

Haley nodded her head and took some eggs off of the fridge. She held the fridge door open for Nathan who took the milk can. Without saying anything, they started to make an omelette.

Jake, Tim and Lucas went to watch TV in the living room while Peyton and Brooke stayed where they were; sitting by the kitchen counter watching the couple closely. Nathan and Haley were both moving in the kitchen smoothly, opening cupboards or the fridge to get stuff. They looked like a well-oiled machine by the way they moved. They never said a word but still knew exactly what the other needed or wanted.

"Just look at them." Peyton mumbled to Brooke. Right then Nathan held his hand out to Haley and without even looking at him, she handed him the milk can so he could put it back in the fridge.

"Did you see that?" Brooke whispered. "She didn't even look at him."

"So, _this_ is what happens when you move in with a guy." Peyton said slowly.

They both watched as Nathan took two forks exactly at the same time as Haley took two plates. Each handed the extra piece to the other. After a quick kiss, they sat down and started to eat in silence. Every now and then Haley giggled and Nathan wiggled his eyebrows as if they were flirting without saying anything.

"I can't watch this anymore." Brooke said shuddering in disgust and turned to look at Peyton.

"I can't decide if I should be freaked out or grosed out." Peyton said and turned her gaze to Brooke when Haley giggled again.

"Either way, those two win 'the Most Nauseating Couple' –award."

"Hands down." Peyton agreed.

"What are you talking about?" Tim asked joining the girls by the counter.

"Those two." Peyton and Brooke said at the same time and pointed at the couple who were now feeding each other.

"Oh, they're only getting worse." Peyton said. They looked as Nathan fed Haley some omelette. Haley took the fork from his hands, threw it away absentmindedly and would've hit Tim with it if he hadn't ducked down in the last second. Then she took Nathan's fingers and licked them slowly.

"Oh my god!" Brooke said shielding her eyes with her hand.

"That's it." Peyton said trying not to puke.

Then suddenly they saw Haley and Nathan stop whatever they were doing for few seconds and just stare at each other. Brooke and Peyton looked at them closely. For few seconds neither Haley nor Nathan said or did anything. Then at the same time both of their smiles turned into identical smirks. And not just any smirk. It was the let's-have-sex-again-right-here-right-now –smirk.

"Oh my god." Brooke said in shock when she recognized the smirk.

"We need to leave." Peyton said grabbing Tim's and moving towards the front door dragging him behind her.

"Luke, put the controller down!" Brooke yelled.

"Jake, get your coat!"

"What? Why?" they guys turned to look at them. The girls pointed towards the kitchen where Nathan had just thrown everything from the kitchen counter on the floor and lifted Haley to sit on the counter.

Without saying anything the guys quickly got up and grabbed their stuff before heading to the door.

"Mommy..." Tim whispered in a scared voice when he saw that Nathan was now fully lying on top of Haley on the counter.

"Tim, get out of here." Brooke said keeping the door open and helping every one out one by one like she was in the war patting on the shoulders of the soldiers when they left the plane.

When the last one was out, Brooke looked at the horny couple one more time. Nathan had just taken Haley's shirt off. And she wasn't wearing a bra. With a shudder Brooke slammed the door shut behind her. They were all now outside the apartment looking at each other with scared looks.

"It's ok... We're ok... We're all ok... Everything is fine... Everything is perfect... Just perfect..." Peyton mumbled while tapping her left foot obsessively and hugging herself. Jake was sitting on the floor slightly swaying from side to side while hugging his knees. He was muttering something incoherent under his breath.

"That was... that was... that was... not good..." Lucas said slowly while looking into the horizon deep in his own thoughts. Seeing his brother and best friend practically molesting each other was something that would not do any good for his mental health.

"Can you guys take me home?" Tim asked in a quiet voice.

"Everyone just calm down!" Brooke screamed even though the others were only whispering. They all turned to look at her.

"I mean..." Brooke started and cleared her throat before starting in a normal volume. "Everyone just calm down. We need to calm down. Just forget what you saw. If we all deny it, it's like it never happened." She said.

"Yeah, there are rules for these kinda things. You know, like if you have sex with two girls at the same time even though you have a girlfriend, it's not cheating because the two cancel each other out." Tim said.

"Exactly." Peyton and Brooke said even though normally they would have smacked Tim for being such a guy.

"So, that never happened." Jake said.

"Never happened." Lucas confirmed.

"Never ever." Brooke said nodding her head.

"Never." Peyton said.

"Nope, never." Tim said.

"Now, let's get the hell out of here." Brooke said.

"Agreed. This place gives me the creeps." Tim muttered.

Meanwhile inside the apartment:

"Do you think they are gone?" Haley asked from Nathan who was still lying on top of her.

"Yeah, mission completed." He said with a smirk.

"Good." Haley said with a smile. When Nathan started to get up, she grabbed his arm.

"What? We got them to leave." Nathan said.

"Oh, did you think this would be it? That we wouldn't finish what we started?" Haley asked with a smirk.

"Hot damn, Haley." Nathan said with a smirk before swooping a giggling Haley on his arms.

"So where to, gorgeous? The bedroom, the bathroom or the coach?"

"How about you take us back on the counter?" she asked and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Whatever you want. I'm just the sex slave."

"Damn right you are."

--------------------

"So..."

"So..."

"This is it then." Nathan stated.

"Yeah..." Haley said forcing a smile.

They were sitting in Nathan's Mustang in front of Haley's house. It was Sunday night which meant the end of the bet.

"It was an interesting two weeks." Nathan said.

"Yeah." Haley said and then smiled. "If Brooke or Lucas or anyone had told me earlier that losing the bet would be the best thing in my life, I would have first laughed and then bitch slapped them to make sure they weren't hallucinating." Haley said with a laugh.

"Somehow I don't doubt that." He said being fully able to imagine Haley doing that.

"Oh, like you wouldn't have laughed at their faces if they had said that to you." Haley said.

"Who could've anticipated that we'd end up not only _not_ killing each other but also getting together?" Nathan said.

"Yeah..." Haley said. Then they looked at each and burst out laughing.

"Except for Brooke, Lucas, Peyton, Jake and Tim." Nathan added.

"And Karen, my brothers, the cheerleading squad, your 80-year-old neighbour and I think I heard the lunch lady tell the janitor how cute of a couple we will eventually make." Haley said laughing.

"I guess we weren't as unpredictable as we thought." Nathan said.

"I guess not." Haley said. Nathan eyes glanced over at the digital clock on the radio. It changed from 9:59 to 10:00.

"10 pm. The bet is officially over." He said and took the chain that was hanging around his neck. He took the small ring off and handed it back to Haley. Haley looked at the ring and was about slip it on her finger when she stopped herself.

"You know what, why don't you hold on to that." She said. "Consider it my thank you present for the two weeks."

"No problem." He said with a smile and slipped the ring back on and then the chain back around his neck. He turned to look at her.

"I'm actually happy you said that because I have also something for you." Nathan said and took a small satin box out of his jacket pocket.

"What's this?" Haley asked.

"Open and see."

Haley slowly opened the lid and almost dropped the box on the floor when she saw what was in it.

"Oh my god Nathan, are these real pearls?" she asked and looked at the two beautiful pearl ear rings. "How could you afford them?"

"Well, few weeks ago I won this poker game..." he started with a grin.

"Nuhhuh!" Haley said.

"Yuhhuh! Consider it my thank you present. You deserve them for putting up with me. Oh, and for the lap dance." He added with a smirk. Haley swatted him but couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I'm gonna wear these on Friday." Haley said.

"What's on Friday?" Nathan asked confused.

"You're taking me out on a date. A real date. Our first date." Haley said.

"I am? I mean, of course I am." He said and flashed a grin. "So, where will I be taking you?"

"That's for you to decide." Haley said smiling.

"Alright, sounds good." Nathan said.

"I should go. Mom and dad are coming home any minute and I wanna be there before they got here."

"Alright, lemme help you with your stuff." He said.

They got out of the car and went to get Haley's stuff from the back. Grabbing her duffel bag, suitcase and a coffee maker they made their way to her front door. Haley opened the front door and set the bags inside the house. She leaned on the open front door and looked at Nathan with a smile.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow at school?" Haley asked.

"I'll pick you up in the morning." He said and kissed her softly on the neck. "I love you."

"Mmmmm, love you too." She said. "Good night, Nathan."

"Night, Haley."

Haley went inside the house and closed the door with a wide smile. She took her stuff upstairs and started to unpack. A while later her cell phone rang.

"Brookie!" Haley said happily on the phone when she saw the caller i.d.

"Nathan still inside you?"

"Brooke!"

"Whatever, I just called to say that I'm sorry we freaked out earlier. You know me, I like to _hear_ the details, not see them."

"That's fine, Brooke."

"So, what's up?"

"Nothing, Nathan just dropped me off at my place. My parents should be here soon."

"Nice, so how was the counter sex?" Brooke asked. Haley laughed at "subtle" change of topic.

"It was good." Haley said blushing.

"Haley..." Brooke sing songed.

"Alright fine, it was awesome! Mind blowing! Fantastic! I've never had better sex in my life." She said with a smirk.

"That's my girl."

"Thank you." Haley said and heard a car pull up to her driveway. She looked out the window and saw and an RV. "Listen, I gotta go. My parents just got here. But I'll see you tomorrow at school, ok?"

"Yeah, see you first period."

"Bye, Brooke."

"Bye, Hales." Brooke said and hung up the phone. She turned to look at Lucas who was driving towards her house. "Nathan wasn't inside Haley, just so you know."

"Brooke! I don't wanna know." Lucas said.

"Yeah, she said that the counter top sex had been awesome."

"Brooke!"

"Fine, no details for you."

"Thank you." Lucas said.

"But you do know that from now on they're gonna be all over each other. In classes, during lunch, at parties..." Brooke said.

Lucas stared at the road for the longest time before replying.

"I think I liked them better when they were fighting."

The End

----------------------------

So, there you go. The epilogue of 'Sunday Night Poker'. Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. :) I'll post an author's note in few days. Until then... review:D And not just this chapter. What are your thoughts about the whole story? What was good? What was bad? What would you change? Constructive criticism is always appreciated. :)

-Fes-


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